Ok, here's an ill-considered thread that's gonna get me blocked... Like a lot of '80s kids, I grew up thinking the '60s were pretty great, and wishing I'd been around for them. When I became a political activist in high school, my NYC peers and I adopted the "hippie" aesthetic in our clothes, our hair, and even our music and our way of speech. 1/10
My parents, who were politically progressive and raised me on Beatles/Stones/Dylan, always told me how much the '60s sucked. Woodstock was a nightmare they luckily avoided, the Yippies were a bunch of grandstanding punks, and the assassinations of the Kennedys/Panthers/MLK/X were scary bummers. The spectre of Vietnam tinged everything with dread. I thought they were nuts, and didn't know how good they'd had it. 2/10
My wife, whose parents raised her in a Black Power ideology, grew up with the same '60s fantasies. We actually met in high school, at a demonstration against the nuclear "homeport" Reagan was building in NY Harbor. We were probably both dressed like "hippies." 3/10
As I grew up and read more and lived more, I came to realize that the mythologization of the 1960s had been more marketing than history (thanks, Thomas Frank). But my political engagement continued, and I still regretted having "missed" the era in which activism was normative. It seemed like a better alternative to the consumerist apathy of the 90s/00s. 4/10
Then 2016 happened. The day after TFG won the electoral college, my father-in-law said to us both "well you always wanted to live in the '60s. Now you have your chance." It was pretty clear he meant it in a damning way. And boy was he right. 5/10
For the last decade, we've lived in a society where every single thing is political. Your choice of food. Your choice of vehicle. Your choice of fashion. Your choice of music. Your choice of sport. Your choice of school. Your choice of state. Your choice of internet platform. Your choice of pronouns. Every goddamn thing is a purity test, and everybody fails. It's basically the only world my kids have ever known. 6/10
Meanwhile, for most people in this country, political freedom has regressed. Women's rights, civil rights, workers' rights, LGBTQ rights. Despite some notable gains (like LGBTQ visibility in Hollywood), we see abortion clinics shuttered, drag shows raided, books burned, newspapers folded, and Nazis everywhere. 7/10
So whatever we think we've been accomplishing through all this politicization of daily life, it's not having the intended effect. The one thing it HAS accomplished is curing people like me and my wife of our ersatz 60s nostalgia. Now, I'd take the 90s over the 60s any day. Peace, prosperity, and progress, even if it's never enough. 8/10
All of which is to say, I wonder how we get ourselves out of this mess. Do we flatten our ears, dig in our heels, and politicize everything even more until the Nazis see the error in their ways and relent? No. Won't work. Do we appease the Nazis by backing away from progressive gains? Heading back into the closet? Accepting voter suppression and mandatory pregnancy? Hell, no. 9/10
I don't have a panacea, but I do think we on "the left" need to start by remembering that our greatest strength is in unity, and embrace of difference. Purity tests make that tough. Someone might agree with you about Ukraine but disagree about Gaza. Or they might agree with you about pay equity and disagree about abortion. It's okay. They have their reasons. Presume good faith. Embrace shared values. Be kind. And present as united a front against fascism as possible. Otherwise we're toast. 10/10
@aram can we do this? I wish but I am not sure. You say, let's set aside the difference on Gaza -- for most Americans that's a far away almost abstract thing but what if one has a relative in Israel or in Gaza?
Or take long covid. This personally affects me. The widespread agreement of "covid is over" locks some of us out public spaces. (Almost. I can bridge it somewhat.) But, we are to sing kumbaya together despite this fantasy threatens me with disability and perhaps even death?
@chx I'm sorry to hear about your struggles with long covid. I'm appalled by the cascading public health failures surrounding this horrible virus.
To answer your larger question: no, we don't have to sing kumbaya & pretend we're all BFFs, especially if we have personal stakes in geopolitical struggles. But we do need to recognize, as all successful political movements & democracies do, that a bigger tent & a stronger movement requires putting aside differences in the name of unity.
@aram so what are we going to say to the disappointed people? They went and voted against Trump in 2020. Yet, the Supreme Court was not extended and continues to destroy the United States as we know it. They didn't start prosecuting Trump ASAP so he can run again. Many will just stay at home because it seems futile. Sure, we don't want Trump, no one sane does but what can the other side show or promise aside from "not-Trump"?
This isn't a movie. We're not going to defeat the forces of evil once and for all.
In a best-case scenario, we hold some evil people accountable to some degree for some of their deeds, while working against the overwhelming tides of hatred and greed to make things incrementally better for everyone.
Which is exactly what Biden's administration has done.
@aram I really don't think this is caused by the 'politicisation of daily life' though. Everything is political - it always was, and the 90s and early 00s boom years insulated privileged white people from that lived reality. Now it cannot be avoided because ignoring the issues allowed Nazism to grow.
Just as in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, we have to fight through it, and that sucks, but it must be done. Of course one should practice self-care and avoid burn out. But blaming our problems on>
Add comment