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Maybe a hot take but I no longer believe in "reaching out to Trump supporters" as a strategy for the left. (Longish thread)Permalink On twitter.com
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Successful leftist movements reach out to the most oppressed segments of the working class to build a base from.Permalink On twitter.com
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Socialism in Bolivia and Peru was built out of indigenous people first. The Russian urban industrial working class built power in soviets. Mao built power from the peasant class while Sankara led with the working poor who understood imperialism.Permalink On twitter.com
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The left in the US should do the same thing. This means organizing black and brown people, undocumented immigrants, indigenous people, LGBT people, young people struggling with debt and bad jobs, houseless people, and the working poor.Permalink On twitter.com
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Some of these people, particularly poor white people in rural areas, will be Trump supporters because the GOP is a big part of rural culture by default. But there's no need to speak to these people *as Trump supporters*. We should speak to them as the working poorPermalink On twitter.com
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The problem with reaching out to "Trump voters" is, as a block, they represent the segment of the working class most sympathetic to the bourgeoisie and the established order. It's middle and upper-income white people who are most likely to support the GOP by all metricsPermalink On twitter.com
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Poor white rural people may be Republican, but I promise you the people actually bothering to go out and vote attend a rally are not the poorest people. Data shows the poorest people are probably disengaged with politics, just trying to make ends meet for their familiesPermalink On twitter.com
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Working class people are interested in solutions to working class problems: debt, poverty, education, etc. "Trump voters" as a block are not interested in these things. They're mainly interested in preserving domination and hierarchy.Permalink On twitter.com
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Studies routinely find that economic anxiety is not as strong an indicator for Trump support as hatred nytimes.com/2018/04/24/us/politics/trump-economic-anxiety.htmlPermalink On twitter.com
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Finally, "Trump supporters" are lying to you. They antagonize you regularly. But then when you defend yourself or stand up to them, everyone jumps on you for being "elitist" and "dismissive of the genuine concerns of the real working class". It's bullshit designed to center themOn twitter.com
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We don't need to "reach out to Trump supporters": Unionizing and radicalizing your workplace is much much more effective than using Vaush's debate tactics on your racist aunt at Thanksgiving. Radicalizing socdems online is much more effective than trying to turn fascists aroundPermalink On twitter.com