Politics is About to Get Boring
If you’re a leftist who’s spent any amount of time in online political spheres, specifically social media platforms like Twitter, you’ve likely come into contact with the Brunch Democrat. The Brunch Democrat is a typically middle- or upper-class liberal who staunchly opposed President Trump because of the mild inconveniences that his term brought them. They want Biden to bring the world back to normalcy so they can return to going out to brunch, or as journalist Matthew Miller put it in a tweet, be able to “read books at night again rather than endlessly doomscrolling twitter.”
I don’t hold the fondest opinions of Brunch Democrats. The mentality of the Brunch Democrat is that replacing a fascist Republican with a corporate Democrat will allow us to slip back into a coma of denial. I don’t bring up this archetype to belittle these people, most of them are not bad people. They may be misguided, but they’ve assured themselves that their pursuit of the lesser of two evils ensures their moral superiority. I bring them up because the Brunch Democrat is something that the Left will have to be aware of as President Trump’s one term nears its end. With the White House about to be turned over to a bland, almost certain to be forgettable, president, the Left has to be prepared for what political discourse will look like: politics is about to get boring again, and it’s already started happening.
An Epidemic of Immobility
Before the murder of George Floyd spurred sustained protests, the Black Lives Matter movement existed in the background of political discourse. Each time a black person’s life was unjustly taken by the hands of the police, Twitter would spark up in hashtags of support for the movement and many constituents demanded change from their leaders. But then, in a flash, it faded into the background and out of the consciousness of the voters.
After George Floyd, it appeared as if things would be different. A New York Times article from early July suggests anywhere from 15 to 26 million people participated in protests — making it the largest movement in the history of our country in terms of numbers. Democrats famous for their establishment lean signaled support for the movement, and cities passed plans to defund their police departments. And here we are at the end of the year. Change has once again seemed to come to a halt.
This isn’t to say we ever expected systemic racism to evaporate overnight, but the climate demanding change has seemed to whittle away. There are some external factors to this that are out of our control — it was much easier to go outside and protest in the summer — but it’s not enough to use those to write off this blockade that we have found ourselves in.
Another reason, one that’s been written about by people much smarter than me (Like this article from Jacobin), has to do with the fragility of “hashtag activism,” this new brand of activism that utilizes social media to reach new audiences. The upside is that it exposes movements to much larger bases, but the downside is that these movements are quick to fizzle out and become buried in your timeline.
The last reason, and the one that I think we can have the most control over changing, is that many liberals have already proclaimed victory after Biden’s presidential win. For leftist coalition-building, Trump’s defeat is a double-edged sword: come January 20, we won’t have to deal with a president as devoted to attacking institutions of free speech and democracy. This will give us better access to the resources necessary to build movements that can deliver change. This is a relief, but an over-reliance on that relief will allow many people to slip back into blissful ignorance. Voters who weren’t completely on board with Biden will compare him to Trump’s administration and conclude that he is a lesser evil worth settling for. This may have been true at the ballot box, but it ceased to be true the second he secured victory.
This brings us to an epidemic of immobility, something that is far from new. Many people’s idea of political action is limited to voting every four years in the general election, and maybe even leaving their cave to vote in the primaries; they fail to see the value in politics that exists outside of the ballot box, like direct action. This political climate is beneficial to the status quo. It limits political discourse in a way that ensures that, no matter who has the keys to the White House, the status quo remains mostly in-tact.
In order for change to materialize, it will be necessary to convince the Brunch Democrat to engage in further politics. That, however, is easier said than done.
Push, Don’t Shove
Some of you may be familiar with the term ‘dirtbag left.’ It refers to a certain style of left-wing politics that utilizes vulgarity over civility to meet its ends. Common scapegoat for the DNC’s failures, the dirtbag leftist has become connotative with the rude and insensible Bernie Bros that the mainstream loves to hate.
While I don’t believe this is an accurate assessment of the Left, we have to be aware of this stereotype. Good optics — whether we like it or not — are essential to a successful movement. So where does this fit into our interactions with Brunch Democrats?
Right now, the Brunch Democrat is still celebrating Biden’s victory. How we engage with them during this process will determine whether we move them left , or isolate them altogether. Imagine a Twitter exchange between two people: your standard establishment Democrat (who we will refer to as @HillaryFan101) and your standard progressive leftist (let’s say, @BernieBro1312). @HillaryFan101, proud of their victory, tweets out “America is back.” @BernieBro1312, incapable of seeing how this Democrat could be convinced that Biden’s victory will heal America, responds:
“Hey @HillaryFan101, America is back? You mean the imperialist, late-stage capitalist, white supremacist, police state is back? Democrats are just Diet Republicans, you’re practically a fascist for tweeting this.”
Well, this isn’t shaping up to be the most constructive conversation, is it? When somebody feels that their worldview is being attacked, they jump on the defensive. Calling them a horrible person because the politicians they support are horrible people won’t win us any points. If we want to engage constructively and work to actually change minds, we need to make it clear to the Brunch Democrat that we are fighting for the same cause.
Say, for instance, that @HillaryFan101 supports defunding the police. Ask them what they think of Biden’s plans to increase funding to law enforcement to pay for reforms. Help them understand the distinction between meaningful reform to limit the role of law enforcement, and reformist steps aimed to keep the institution in-tact. If they want universal healthcare, ask them if they think the Affordable Care Act does enough to meet that end. One by one, help them decouple their beliefs from party rhetoric until they realize their positions are unrecognizable from those of the party establishment.
Our movement is populated with plenty of disaffected Democrats, myself included. If you’re one of those, ask yourself why you abandoned the party. Odds are, it wasn’t someone calling you a neoliberal or fascist on Twitter. More likely than not, it was your realization that the establishment wasn’t representing your interests, and the introduction to a whole set of ideologies geared towards the common person. Our greatest strength is our solidarity, but if we don’t know how to use it, we’ll keep losing.
