Premium 96: Pascal's Wager for Electoralism

RIP John Prine.

I listened to the last free episode, "Uniquely Qualified For These Times," and I hope that since then a few things have happened: Tanya (Tonya?) has her electricity back on; You've recovered from the loss and developed a renewed sense of resolve; and You've reconsidered your thoughts on community organizing. Because all three are tied to one another. If you truly know where your power lies when it comes to electoral politics, you know that it does not stop with putting one figurehead in the Oval Office. It has never worked that way. Both establishment Democrats and Republicans have known that for decades. That's why they are both able to embolden their bases to rally behind Joe Biden and hold an anti-quarantine rally outside the Kentucky state capitol building (mock those people, but that's what organizing looks like.) Personally, I am a volunteer for the DC Tenants Union. Within less than a year, we have been able to actively organize and make major gains around rent control, affordable housing, expansion of funding to rehabilitate buildings. Most recently, we quickly voted and organized to pressure the DC Council and the mayor to close Landlord/Tenant Court. We won. L/T Court has been closed until May 15. We also pressured the city to implement a rent freeze. We have a litany of demands that we're not done with. We're fighting to cancel rent, triple funding for Emergency Rental Assistance, and many more. Many of us in this coalition are Bernie supporters, including myself. But as disappointed as many of us likely are, we have never kept our eyes off what we are doing locally. That is what has kept us going. We can lose a national primary, but win locally, when we maintain our energy at multiple levels. So that brings me to where you're located in Eastern Kentucky. Who are the public officials in your county? How is your city run? Is there a mayor? Are there councilmembers or aldermen? Whose record can you look up? Who is up for election? Who can you primary? Who can you prep to primary? How can you connect to a larger coalition of serious Left groups that are serious about electoral politics and can supply you with resources? Resources aren't always money. It's time, energy, training workshops. In our case, the New York Upstate-Downstate Coalition came down to DC to teach us how to be intentionally disruptive and practice getting aggressive with our elected officials. Community organizing is hard. But it is important. It's messy. Sometimes you're working with people you love and people you wouldn't hang out with if it weren't for the fact that your lives are on the line. It forces you to empathize with people you normally wouldn't need to think about. And these people keep you honest. They hold you accountable not because they are paying you. But because if they are willing to cuss you out on their time for free, they mean it. When there's too much of a top-down approach to listening, there's little guarantee that the leader will listen. Take myself for example. I am a patron, but you can decide to ignore everything I'm saying. Now if we -- millions of donors and thousands of volunteers -- can't get through to Bernie because he'll just do what he wants, what makes you any better? And finally, you need to drop the loser mindset you have right now. Honestly, I think that's what did Bernie in. He's so often used to losing, he wasn't prepared to present himself as a winner, even when he was winning. We on the Left tend to internalize that if we rage against the machine no one will hear us and not enough people will want to join in. But imagine if they did. Imagine if you got 400 people to rally at your home state official's home to end cash bail. That's a win. We win we believe we have power at every level of government. We win when we actually learn how to organize, because it's more than just organizing pencils. We win when humble ourselves around those we may have looked down on. We win when we can make our abstract ideas real and actionable in everyday people's lives. We win when we realize that everyone can be a revolutionary, not just our imagined selves. That is all. For now.

Sela Lewis

I'm back, cancelled my Amazon sub and joined you guys again.

Benphish

UMWA in the 1930s led to so many deaths and the union itself brought in scabs to fill jobs. The National Miners Union tried to radicalize workers but when the National Guard is sent in to help police murder you, it's not the easiest way to organize.

Jonathan Howard

I thought Pascal’s wager in the title was gonna refer to “you might as well engage in electoralism as a leftist just in case it actually materially helps.”

Sparrow

Loved the sunday service really brought me back with the song choices