Hope Is Learned

Not only should we be mindful of OUR own political choices, but we should be mindful of how our tactics affect the next generation of like-minded people. Look at Trump's poor example...even though he was a complete failure (even by his own metrics), he energized racist right-wing fervor and indoctrinated a whole new generation into the cult of tribal delusion...infused with the hope of white nationalist uprising, glorified military conquest, theocratic culture, and trickle-down fantasy. Similarly, when the neo-liberals decided that they would reserve all their vitriol for crushing the next generation of "Progressives" so they could retain their corporate power...they destroyed the ability for the next generation to have hope; to believe the System could produce anything but the status quo. Thus, you see it in many policies of the "young left"...they are afraid to plan STRUCTURALLY, they rely too heavily on exhaustive protest, they want to scrape for patchwork in pockets that only affect the identities they have...their predecessors have created a generation of cynics, that will make too many concessions out of fear, who will be reluctant to participate in elections, and who will soon join the Right in "victim culture," learning to ignore/avoid power but incessantly complain that they have none.

Pragmatism is one thing, but you must always be mindful of your example too. The poisonous philosophy of "short-term gain" and "individualism" has destroyed every facet of society, and we must stop allowing it to destroy the future of our children.