Solidarity is important. If a political group is fractured
they quickly lose power, and small factions have to often work with the larger
group to accomplish their agenda. I think that applies especially after a loss.
That being said, blindly rooting for a party is a compromise we can’t afford to
make, and is actually counterproductive in the long run. To the democrats that
protested Bush’s wars: did you protest Obama’s? After you fought courageously against
Bush’s strengthening of the NSA, did you denounce Obama’s unprecedented
crackdown on whistleblowers (more imprisoned under his administration than all previous presidencies combined) [1]? When you said the US shouldn’t act as the world’s
police in Iraq, did you make the same claim about Syria? When you speak about
GMOs and Monsanto do you mention that the Obama administration pushed biotech
aggressively throughout the world [2]?
I ask these questions not to divide, but to challenge. The
complacency in the democratic party has been frightening in the past eight
years. We can had disagreements without dividing the left, and if we don't have and voice those disagreements, political power tends towards the corporations' side. I hope the one good thing to come from Trump’s administration is a
reinvigoration of constructive anger and frustration, that will lead to
meaningful change. However, please don’t let that die when the democrats are in
power. The way you make your party better and stronger is the same way you make
your country better and stronger; you challenge every ideology or policy you
disagree with. When we let the democratic party drift further and further right, we lose votes and the moral high ground. Don't root for your party like a sports team, challenge your party to make it better.
I’m not claiming any moral purity or high ground when I
challenge the apathy and rationalizing in the left. While I was aware and angry about the
right-wing policies from the Obama administration, I didn’t do enough to combat
those moves. I criticized these policies, but only spoke to a select few about them, and thus had no real effect. We all need to do better, the current state of affairs is evidence enough for that.
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