Van Jones thinks the Left can utilize the Tea Party model to build its own nationwide organization. He believes in the idea so much that he has helped to launch the organization, The American Dream Movement.
While I applaud Jones for trying something, I really don't think the Tea Party is a very good blueprint. For one thing, as history has shown, it is far easier to organize around hate, distrust and scapegoating (i.e., fear) than it is to organize around progressive values (i.e., hope).
Another problem with the Left is that we are far more cannibalistic than the Right. Conservatives seem far better able to subsume personal agendas to unite around common themes. Progressive and Left groupings historically have found this objective difficult as one common group soon splinters into different variations that spend more time sniping at each other than working toward unified goals.
For me, however, it is the organizations Jones has chosen to set the foundation of the "new" movement that makes me feel more than a bit leery. These groups -- like Moveon.org and the AFL-CIO -- are wedded to the Democratic Party. In my view, the Democrats are as much the enemy as the GOP. The social safety net has taken some of its biggest hits in the last several years under Democratic Presidents Clinton and Obama.
So my fear is that this effort by Jones may be nothing more than yet another Democratic Party front group. It could well thwart bona fide progressive activism by steering most of the energy and money toward Democratic Party candidates who will then head-off to Washington to serve their corporate masters just as before -- but with progressive creds.
These are my initial feelings. I will withhold final judgment until a) The group actually congeals (if it does so at all) and b) Until which point it becomes obvious they are shills for the Democrats.
Another problem with the Left is that we are far more cannibalistic than the Right. Conservatives seem far better able to subsume personal agendas to unite around common themes. Progressive and Left groupings historically have found this objective difficult as one common group soon splinters into different variations that spend more time sniping at each other than working toward unified goals.
For me, however, it is the organizations Jones has chosen to set the foundation of the "new" movement that makes me feel more than a bit leery. These groups -- like Moveon.org and the AFL-CIO -- are wedded to the Democratic Party. In my view, the Democrats are as much the enemy as the GOP. The social safety net has taken some of its biggest hits in the last several years under Democratic Presidents Clinton and Obama.
So my fear is that this effort by Jones may be nothing more than yet another Democratic Party front group. It could well thwart bona fide progressive activism by steering most of the energy and money toward Democratic Party candidates who will then head-off to Washington to serve their corporate masters just as before -- but with progressive creds.
These are my initial feelings. I will withhold final judgment until a) The group actually congeals (if it does so at all) and b) Until which point it becomes obvious they are shills for the Democrats.
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