by Jonathan Krall
I, like so many people I talk with, am looking for reasons to hope. The explosion of rallies, protests, and celebrations of democracy give me hope. Domestic civil rights and international freedom movements give me hope. The energetic Democratic Socialists and the many student activists give me hope. But I want more. I want to see a way forward. In On Freedom, author Timothy Snyder tells us that “We know the way back toward freedom: a reclamation of the future.” He goes on to say that we must do more than vote against our fears, such as when we vote for the lesser of two evils. “Fear is not enough. It will not get us where we need to go.” We must instead “build a scaffolding of hope.” I believe that this hopeful scaffolding can be built by supporting non-profits instead of mainstream parties.
While we must not give up on the power of our vote (that is, not give up on democracy), we must also not give up on the search for something positive to vote for. I, personally, do not see either of the main political parties leading me anywhere I want to go.
In How We Win the Civil War, author Steve Phillips describes the non-profit organizations that have flipped states, including the Commonwealth of Virginia, from red to blue. Hope lies not in the “blue” part, but in the growing multi-cultural coalitions created by these non-profit leaders. These coalitions center working-class concerns, including those expressed by communities of color. They emphasize those basic concerns (minimum wage, housing, affordable transportation options, access to jobs) and let their actions (not their words) speak to those who wish to center antiracism. New Virginia Majority, one of the organizations profiled in Mr. Phillips’s book, is doing this coalition-building work.
Expanding democracy
New Virginia Majority (NVM) political priorities, such as renewable energy and in-state college tuition for undocumented Virginians, are very nuts-and-bolts. To my mind, NVM is far from perfect. For example, their “expanding democracy” agenda would strengthen voting rights and ease of voting, but it could be bolder. Mainly, I’m hopeful that their coalition-building work will give sensible Virginians the political strength to help our working-class friends, neighbors, and selves, to achieve economic stability and mobility, two of the pillars of freedom. At present, it seems, too many people believe that the only way to escape exploitation is to go to college and stop being working class. This is not acceptable. Working class people deserve freedom too.
Another non-profit, Upvote Virginia, is working to expand democracy by promoting ranked-choice voting. As I see it, we need to open the door to non-establishment candidates. Ranked-choice voting would open that door. Either of the two main parties could strengthen democracy, and put country over party, by implementing ranked-choice voting in party-primary elections. Neither party has done so. As Frederick Douglass said, “Power concedes nothing without a demand.” We The People (that’s you and me), need to be more demanding.
Expanding citizenship
According to reporter Robert Evans, fascists gain power by finding the boundaries that delineate who does or does not share the “equality amongst the people in a political community” and then proceed to “start pushing inward.” When marginalized communities are forced (or kept) out of citizenship, conflict is heightened, the population of non-citizen residents increases, and remaining residents are vulnerable to domination by the most privileged, least ethical elements of the in-crowd. When enough people believe that we must abandon democratic norms to expel “undesirables,” they vote to break those norms. Here in the USA, this vote has already happened. With fewer democratic norms, dictatorship is possible.
Here in Alexandria, Legal Aid Justice Center and Tenants and Workers United are fighting to keep immigrant Americans in their homes. While the fascists push inward, they are pushing outward. In the current regime, most visibly, immigrants are being excluded (queer folk, non-citizen intellectuals, and others, are also being excluded). Every time a “pathway to citizenship” for immigrants is blocked, the fascist cause is advanced. Millions of American residents have been living here for more than 10 years, with no path, or a very slow path, to citizenship. This is their home. We should not let Americans be excluded from our national community without a fight.
Fighting for truth
The disinformation economy is truly frightening. Viral, toxic content gets stunning piles of attention and ad dollars. Personally, I have faith that people will eventually learn that virality signifies neither public support nor truth. In the meantime, evil flourishes, legally, because that’s where the money is. Disinformation grifters do not need to believe what they say–the money will be there either way. Strong support for a public education and a public investment response to the disinformation economy would give me hope.
For example, because of inaction, no one stopped (or seriously taxed) social media corporations when they stole content and ad dollars from local news back in the early days of Facebook. While everything fell apart, both political parties sat on the sidelines, like drug-infused wanna-be shamans, chanting “free market, free market.” Many local newspapers are long gone. Others, including The Washington Post, exist at the whim of wealthy benefactors. These people are as close to the center of the above-cited “in-crowd” as you can get.
Strong public support for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting gives me hope. But, as with voting and citizenship, we need to push outwards. We need an expanded CPB mission that supports the local news-reporting that was decimated by social media. Perhaps non-profits or political leaders are effectively working to strengthen public-service reporting. If you, gentle reader, know of any, please speak up.
For now, it seems, the best we can do is donate to whichever local news outlet seems most worthy. And, of course, support the non-profits (and political leaders, if we can find any) that are fighting to expand democracy, expand citizenship (statehood for Puerto Rico and DC anyone?) and build structural supports for the truth.