Welcome to 1968. Do not fuck it up this time.
You heard me. I’m talking to you, progressives. Welcome to 1968. Let’s do it right this time. Do Not. Fuck It Up. Like You Did Last Time.
“Whaaat?! We were on the right side of 1968! We were against the Vietnam war, and pro civil rights! And women’s rights! And music and things! How did we fuck it up?!”
Short answer: being right and winning the day are not the same thing. Long answer: Buckle up.
What made 1968, 1968? The expanding war in Vietnam. The assassination of a president. A new president (my personal favorite) who actually passed a progressive agenda that worked. The assassination of a civil rights leader and a presidential hopeful. Riots in cities where African Americans stood up to the police. Women breaking free from the bonds of sexual oppression. Deep cultural shifts, where black people and women and the poor began to declare that their lives matter, that rocked the country from 1960–1967. All of this came together in 1968, when America rose up and elected… Richard Nixon.
And it was then when things really got interesting.
Just so we’re clear, in the 1968 democratic primary, a strong establishment democrat beat a popular, class-conscious democrat who was hugely popular with college students. The establishment democrat (Hubert Humphrey) then took the rabble-rowser (Edmund Muskie) as his vice president. They still didn’t win.
And then from 1968 to 1972, America came apart at the seams. Nixon campaigned on ending the war in Vietnam, and he expanded it. He campaigned on fiscal security, and there was a recession.
And then in 1972, all of the cultural upheaval — all of the historic battles of which we, progressives, stood on the right side — all of the pushes for freedom, resulted in democrats defeating Richard Nixon and electing GeorgeMcGovern, a truly progressive president.
Yeah, that did not happen. Richard Nixon was, after the years of 1968–1972, re-elected. RE-ELECTED.
Never underestimate well-meaning people’s deep desire for stability. People will take stability over freedom 5.1 times out of 10. After the Arab Spring, everyone sat scratching their heads over the shift from the Islamic Brotherhood back to Military rule. This was not a repudiation of the *ideas* that the spring was fighting for. This was a repudiation of instability.
I say this not to say that we are wrong, or that we should stop fighting. I say this because we are right! And so I would greatly appreciate it we would kindly NOT FUCK THINGS UP LIKE WE DID LAST TIME. We need to be clear, and meaningful, and loudly state that we are not here to overthrow everything forever.
Some people actually are fantasizing about overthrowing the government. That’s fine. And probably the most counterproductive thing to do in public right now. It feels so good, I know. It feels great. And it is important for us to be seen and heard, and felt.
But. Listen. 47 percent of voting people voted for this guy. And more importantly, 43 percent of *all* people didn’t care enough to vote. That means that just under half of people simply want to go about their lives. It doesn’t mean they won’t listen to you; they also deeply want a more perfect union. Those people WILL LISTEN TO YOU if you show them a better way. However, those people will freak out if you present your case as wanting to burn all this shit to the motherfucking ground. And they will re-elect him.
So remember, everyone. Right now, right at this very moment, you are campaigning for 2018. Right now you are campaigning for 2020. It has already begun. The people are watching.
Do not. Fuck this one. Up.
