Be as excited about expanding freedom
Anand Giridharadas presents a video conversation about what inpired “The Persuaders” at The Ink :
A year from now, America will face a defining choice between authoritarianism and freedom, hatred and love, exclusion and inclusion, and, as of now, it’s a dead heat.
It shouldn’t be. It doesn’t have to be.
Early in the conversation, Giridharadas says:
In a moment in American life in which the contest is not small government versus big government, blue versus red, left versus right, high taxes versus low taxes, in which the contest is really pro-democracy versus anti-democracy, some of us versus all of us … it was a dead heat. And sometimes we do well in the dead heat. And that means 49-46. A couple states more than that, and sometimes we lose the dead heat. But as a writer, as opposed to being a campaigner who has to eke out these narrow victories, I have the luxury of stepping back a little bit and saying, hold on.
We are going to the American people in this era and saying, “Here is fascism, and here is freedom.” And before you get to gerrymandering, just polling, just asking people what they want, it’s 50-50 … ish.
I’m not saying all the rigging stuff is not happening, and it magnifies the problem, but I think I started from the premise of we’re being a little bit easy on ourselves when we blame the rigging. The honest truth is we are presenting the American people in this era with a referendum on fascism and freedom, and the jury is really, really out. And a lot of people are really excited about the fascism option.
The left needs to build what it has failed to so far: a “galvanizing, inviting, seductive movement…. I think we need to throw a more fun party.” Right now, the dytopian, dehumanizing, Bizarro America movement the right leans into “reads as the more fun time.” At the same time, the left’s movement (what there is), is “the most inclusive platform, perhaps in any country in the history of the world,” yet reads as “tedious, moralistic, scoldy, wonky … we are playing the fiddle of wonkery while democracy burns.”
A recent arrival from Florida here organizes a monthly Democratic Happy Hour unconnected with the local Democratic Party. What’s great about it is that there is no program, no speakers (outside of election season), no volunteer signup sheets, no trainings. Just drinks and political conversation with like-minded people at some local brew pub. Low barrier to entry. No asks. Great for noobs and new arrivals.
I much prefer it to the more serious “Drinks with Dems” affairs in town. Why? Ladder of engagement-wise, it’s less programatic and more fun. Those who want to get their hands dirty with campaigns will get there on their schedule. Too often activists organize their events to attract other activists rather than to cultivate new ones by making friends first. On making our movement a fun time, Giridharadas is spot on.