United We Stand; Divided We Fall

I came across two stories today that got me thinking. The first, is about a minor local race in Montgomery County near DC, where a former Democrat is staging a third-party challenge against the Democrat candidate. The main story though, is Joe Crowley has apparently decided to run as a third-party challenger to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

These stories got me thinking about when Trump won the presidency I talked to a friend of mine about why he voted for him. This friend is the nicest guy in the world, Marine and Army vet, wonderful father to his daughter, the kind of religious man who lives all the good parts of Christianity without the darkside or preachiness. In other words, the complete opposite of Trump in every way.

So I asked him why he voted for Trump. He explained that he had decided his loyalty was to the Republicans and he would support them no matter what. This loyalty is fundamental to his character. It’s also, I think, a fundamental difference between the Right and the Left.

Now, keep in mind, I’m speaking here about general elements rather than any specifics. One of these general elements of people on the Right is loyalty to familiar institutions. Conservativism essentially craves the familiar and comfortable. But it’s also Loyalty to each other.

On the other hand, the Left, want to see things get better and to do that, things need to change. They are not loyal to any single idea, system, group or person. The Left is made up of lots of people who are opposed to the Right and all agree things need to get better. But we don’t agree on the specifics. And this division is why the Left keeps losing.

All the way back to the revolutions that swept Europe in 1848 failed to achieve most of their goals because of this division. They overthrew the ruling institutions but then couldn’t agree on a next move and began undermining each other. This allowed the conservative forces to regain control.

The funny thing is, I understand this reluctance to work together by those on the Left.  Calling for loyalty is a common cry from those on the Right. Stand together, be loyal to what progress we’ve made. Every time any victory is made, some people on the Left become the Right, calling for progress to stop right here thank you very much.

I think the Left could take a lesson from the Right though. The idea of loyalty. Not to a fixed institution, person or policy. But to the basic idea of Progress. Everyone on the left doesn’t have to agree on everything. Socialists and center Democrats can get along though. They both oppose the policies of the Right. They both might have to give a little to make some gains and keep those gains.

Those on the Far Left need to accept that the country isn’t going to move that far very fast. As much as we might want political change to happen quickly, it rarely lasts when it does. Those more toward the center need to remember that the moment they think “this far, no farther” they’ve become the Right. They’ve become what they were once fighting against.

Those same people calling for everyone to rally behind Hilary after she won the primary need to do the same when people like Ocasio-Cortez win instead.