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DONALD TRUMP AND HIS ALLIES DON’T REALLY CARE WHAT KIND OF LEFTIST
YOU ARE  
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò
December 11, 2024
Teen Vogue
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_ Being “the right kind” of progressive or feminist or socialist
can easily become its own goal, rather than winning concrete victories
that match the values and goals behind these labels. Unfortunately
this has been a common response in recent decades _

President-elect Donald Trump, left, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk watch the
launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in
Texas, Nov. 19., Credit: Reuters-/ Yonhap // The Korea Times

 

After Donald Trump was first elected in 2016, people sprung into
action: Membership in existing groups such as the Democratic
Socialists of America
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while brand-new organizations burst into existence
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Eight years later, people are again showing up in massive numbers to
protect themselves and their neighbors from a second Trump
administration. People’s World reported that more than 140,000
people
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a nationwide online call held recently by the Working Families Party.
Many of you reading this have already joined or will join this
energetic wave of political organizing, and the decisions you make
about where to put your time and effort will be crucial in deciding
what is won and lost in the next few years.

Keep in mind, though, that when you are recruited by people and
projects to Be a Thing and others that want you to Do a Thing, join
the doers. It will not always be easy, at the outset, to tell which
team is recruiting you. Most organizations, collectives, and friend
groups will at least mention concrete goals, and many groups organized
around ideology do important, meaningful political work. But pay
attention: If the actions of the people surrounding you are oriented
in maintaining a particular political posture, internal standard of
correctness, or some other goal rather than a tangible victory, you
may have ended up on team Be a Thing.

We have heard much in the past few years about the promise and
limitations of identity
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of what we can and can’t learn from what it means to be Black or
queer or trans or Muslim — or to live at their intersections
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It can feel like a step forward to describe our politics in terms of
the identities and labels we choose: feminist, progressive, liberal,
socialist, or increasingly specific variations
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these. Indeed, it is critically important for each of us to decide
where we stand and why, but it’s also important not to confuse the
stakes of self-definition with the stakes of political success.

Being “the right kind” of progressive or feminist or socialist can
easily become its own goal, rather than winning concrete victories
that match the values and goals behind these labels. Unfortunately,
this has been a common response in recent decades among those who have
long fought against the overwhelmingly powerful, well-funded right
wing in the United States. As victories in central fights against
well-resourced opponents become more and more remote, focusing on
branding or infighting among comrades becomes more and more
attractive. Organizers can be content to exist as a subculture —
again, “the right kind” of progressive, feminist, or socialist —
while being indifferent or even hostile to attempts to move beyond
that.

No one at the level of power we aim to contest — those who can wage
war from thousands of miles away
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hold billions of investment dollars hostage to strong-arm our
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or mobilize disinformation on a planetary scale
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is worried about what kind of socialist, feminist, or anti-imperialist
is holding signs at the protests they encourage police to brutally
suppress. As writer and organizer Kelly Hayes
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pointed out, the more our political energy goes to the politics of
self-expression, the less there is for the fights we really need to
win against mass deportation, mass incarceration, the climate crisis.
None of the actors who profit from the above care what kind of leftist
we are, so long as we fall in line. A better show of our political
identity is how we make changes in the world around us, not our
slogans and mission statements.

In _Faux Feminism,_ philosopher Serene Khader describes leaving
behind “freedom feminism,” which has been preoccupied with
describing women and gender-expansive people as having an empowering
identity. While it’s important to speak out loudly against a sexist
culture’s insistence that women are less than
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the emphasis on making the choices of privileged women feel free
distracts from the real structures of economic oppression that do the
supporting work to make those privileged lives possible. Though
essential workers were rightly celebrated
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the crucial role they played in stitching society together during and
after the pandemic — including supporting the feeling of freedom for
those at the top — that celebration seldom translated into extra
pay
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physical protection
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Khader’s alternative “feminism for the many,” defined by what it
does rather than what it says, means winning concrete political
victories for the many working-class women of color and immigrant
women who make up the majority of daycare workers, house cleaners,
home health aids, and additional essential care work the world can’t
do without. These workers fought successfully in New York City to
access paid sick and safe leave; in Washington, DC,
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overturn exclusions
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domestic workers from basic labor protections
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establish a Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights
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The teams of people fighting these fights might not all describe
themselves with the same combination of political labels — not even
Khader's feminism for the many — and that’s fine. What matters is
what they did.

There will be lots of things for doers to accomplish in the coming
years. Some of these efforts involve passing laws and challenging
regulations, like the care workers whose actions Khader chronicled.
Other efforts might stray off the beaten path of formal politics
entirely, such as providing mutual aid
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communities under assault by climate disasters
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politicians
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or vigilante groups
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We are better off _doing_ with people who don’t share our
political labels but are nevertheless trying to accomplish the same
goals, the kind of organizing built into the culture of workers'
unions [[link removed]], tenants'
unions, debtors’ unions
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and other mission-driven entities.

These are collectives defined not by what their opinions are but by
core goals they can objectively achieve or fail to reach. The power
these organizations can wield — not just to make demands but
to withhold labor, rent, debt payments
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take action
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demands are not met — is necessary for having a valid complaint
about the world and being able to change it. Our best chance of making
it through the next few years together is to join the doers.

_[OLÚFẸ́MI O. TÁÍWÒ [[link removed]] is
Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. He
received his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of California Los
Angeles. He has published in academic journals ranging from Public
Affairs Quarterly, One Earth, Philosophical Papers, and the American
Philosophical Association newsletter Philosophy and the Black
Experience. He is the author of ELITE CAPTURE
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REPARATIONS.
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* Trump 2.0
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* Resistance 2.0
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* Donald Trump
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* Project 2025
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* 2024 Elections
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* Fascism
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* Elon Musk
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* democracy
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* united front
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* United Front Against Fascism
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* mutual aid
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* defending most vulnerable
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* deportations
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* transgender
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* abortion rights
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* press freedom
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