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Common Sense
by Lance Haver
November 2004
Who among us believed that John Kerry offered any real solutions? Bush's victory was predictable and in many ways justified. We failed to offer Americans real options or real answers to their fears. We didn't inspire them or earn their trust. We need to organize, of course, but around what? The same issues we have been? That's the real question. To answer it I believe must accept:
1) The people who voted for Bush are not all ignorant, right wing lunatics. The majority of Bush supporters are more like us then they are different from us. They want quality schools, enough income to live, job security, health care, a better future for their children, a decent safe place to live, a safe retirement and to feel comfortable in their neighborhoods. Don't we share these goals? Our differences are in how we achieve these goals, not in the goals themselves. If we start the conversation by demonizing those that don't agree with us, how do we talk to them to show them our point of view?
2) We are winning the war on social issues. I know that many of the right wing pundits are saying social issues led to Bush's victory. And those of us who proudly support gay marriages and a woman's right to decide when and if she will have a child are saddened that others are attacking us to secure their voter base, but the attacks don't change the tide of history. As progressives we all too often focus on where we haven't gotten to yet instead of how far we have come. In the last fifty years there have been tremendous progressive strides on almost all social issues. Fifty years ago, in 1954, racism and sexism were not just problems; they were the law of the land. Forget about abortion or the morning after pill, contraception was illegal. As late as 1972 the liberal state of Massachusetts was arresting people for providing contraceptives to unmarried women. Women and minorities could be refused mortgages, insurance, jobs, almost anything, just because they were women or minorities. Less than twenty-five years ago, David Duke, a leader of the KKK, was considered an electable candidate for governor in Louisiana. Our sense of social justice has changed to such a large extent that even the right wingers have to have people of color in their administrations. In 1954 was the issue of gay marriages being debated? Of course not, homosexuality was illegal. Now even Bush gives lip service to gay rights. This is not to say that we don't have a long way to go, or that that justice delayed is not justice denied. It is just to place where we are in a historical context.
3) We have lost ground on economic justice over the last fifty years. On some level, everyone knows that. Many families were able to enter the middle class with only one person working. Now it is almost impossible. Instead our middle class is getting squeezed, with more and more money floating to the top ten percent and more and more people sinking to the bottom.
4) The culture of cutthroat capitalism has permeated our society. There is no real job security, no safety net, companies lay off workers without conscience, close factories without concern, merge and throw thousands out of work, all so a handful of the very rich can become even richer. American society has become less civil. And those hurt by these changes, which are the majority of Americans, are looking for some one to blame.
The corporatists use our fears and loss of civility to confuse people into voting against their own interests. The reason why, they say, we feel insecure, unsure about the future and under attack, the reason why our society is less civil is because of the moral decay of abortion and gay rights.
On the other hand, we, all too often, instead of offering an alternative reason why people feel under attack, attack the folks who are feeling insecure. Instead of joining with people who are feeling the difficulties caused by the cutthroat capitalists, we attack them. We tell them they are dumb, ignorant and just plain stupid and then wonder why they don't vote for our candidates.
It is time for us to join with those who are feeling hard pressed by our economic system. We must make an attempt to show that we are on the same side. We must organize with them for affordable utilities, insurance, housing and day care. It is time for us to say yes, you are right to feel more insecure, but not because a couple of people you don't know are getting married in someplace you have never been, but because the XYZ company is overcharging you, taking your job and trying to pollute your drinking water. And that multinational corporations have no loyalty to people in our countries, just their wealthy stockholders. If we want to lead, at the very least we have to champion issues that people feel, understand and support. It may feel more comfortable to speak with people who already agree with us, it just doesn't do that much good. And we must finally admit to ourselves that we can't call the people who voted for Bush names and then wonder why they don't like us.
Lance Haver is director of consumer affairs for the City of Philadelphia.
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