I don’t know if you realize this, but life under the 45th President has been for a lack of a better term, stressful. Sure it’s not enough that his policies stab at my core with existential dread like when he imprisons and separates Central American families, threatens to open up the Arctic Natural Wildlife Reserve to oil drilling, and completely beefing the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Its hard not to feel like he and his follower’s position is to give me stress, and that’s pretty much their end goal. In a piece written in the Atlantic entitled “Cruelty is the Point”, Adam Serwer writes;
“It is not just that the perpetrators of this cruelty enjoy it; it is that they enjoy it with one another. Their shared laughter at the suffering of others is an adhesive that binds them to one another, and to Trump.”
For the first time in my privileged life, I am experiencing what many have felt all along, that the dominant power structure not only wants me held down, but to suffer in the process. Everyday we are bombarded by new acts of cruelty and ignorance buttressed by a media punditry focused on normalizing this new reality we are in. Giving a simple shrug of “business as usual” when in actuality their hair should be on fire every single day. It is maddening to feel like no one gets how serious a threat it is to psychologically condition our country to think of one half as an enemy, and having the government reflect that sentiment with policy.
That’s why oddly enough it has been those people on the margins who have finally been given a platform that have been great for my sanity. There are multiple men and women of color who have in the course of the last election been given the platform to speak against power. In response, the counterculture and purveyors of the status quo try to shout as loud as they can to muffle out this threat to their privilege. Through years of marginalization and oppression these figures have developed a fitness of mind and discourse that I can only aspire to, as they are able to not only stand poised against such rhetoric, but respond in a way that is dignified in the face of indignity. One such leader is the freshman Representative from the 14th District of New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Fighting the “Boot-Straps” Mythology.
While this might reveal my age (Early 30’s) I am one of the lucky group of new graduates that entered the workforce at the time of the housing market crash, and the subsequent economic recession. In that time as a Millennial I was told to “stop buying certain things”, “aim to get out of my parents basement”, “stop being entitled and too into technology”, an age based interpretation of the “boot-straps mythology”. It has been frustrating to be both hit by student loan debt, and receive zero job prospects out of college with the option to take close to minimum wage or no-pay internships. It’s one thing to be hit hard by a system that takes advantage of new graduates, but its another to be seen as lazy and entitled while doing so. Because of the pernicious power of this mythology (and yes it is pure mythology) that I have kept my mouth shut to people I know. Because aside from people my age the society at large gave this new economic reality a collective large shrug. It has been refreshing when Representative Ocasio-Cortez gave an interview with Time Magazine ;
“There’s always this talk of division with the Democratic Party...or this Progressive Wing...or ideological differences. But I actually think there are generational differences.
Because the America we grew up in is nothing like the America our parents or grandparents grew up in. We were born after Cold War, we were literal children during the Clinton Administration, so the surplus and prosperity of the Clinton Administration flew well over our heads.”
AOC is not a Representative that plug and play uses the “son/daughter of a lower class parent success story”, what Stephen Colbert humorously coined “son of a turd miner. Both Democratic and Republican leaders bend over backwards to share how they are indicative of the American dream of hard work leading to prosperity. AOC frames the actual reality of children of working class families. Success is highly contained to your original status at birth with limited to now mobility upward, that hard work alone has not been indicative of success, and you are one emergency or crisis away from falling into the spiral of wealth insecurity. She talks about being a waitress not to say how she worked hard and you too can be a Representative, but to highlight how hard it is to find mobility and stability in the modern era, including how it took her getting into congress to get healthcare. It is refreshing to hear that her story has similarities to mine and it makes one not feel so alone. On a side note: I have written about generational devaluing in my first piece with DailyKos
The Power of Stating it Plain
As Progressives the easiest thing for us to do is support our opinions and positions with well sourced and fact based. The hardest thing of course is declaring that we actually want something. It seems counterproductive, but conservative circles have successfully framed Liberal and Progressive Policies as fantastical and socialist. In response we have been conditioned to need a high burden of proof to state what we want. Conservatives can simply say “I don’t want socialism” while liberals have to say “according to the INDEPENDENT Congressional Budget Office, and noticing trends of economic data from a variety of sources”. It’s rage inducing to have to hold onto that double standard to want to push forward. So it has been valuable to hear leadership declaring and demanding change plainly
At a town hall with Chris Hayes, Representative Ocasio-Cortez, she states plainly the reason why the Green New Deal is so important.
Exxon/Mobil knew that climate change was real and man made since the 1970’s the government knew it was real and human made in 1989 the year I was born. So the initial response was “let the market handle it, they will do it”. 40 years and free market solutions have not changed our position. It doesn’t mean we need to change our entire government, but it means that we have to do something.
Listening to her speak I notice she has a unique power. She is able to state confidently and courageously that we don’t have to wait, and play the political game that has been the norm for years just to make incremental change. That we can do things now in the present with our current realities. It is obvious to notice its efficacy because 1) people are attracted and supportive of her message and 2) The conservative resistance has been working tirelessly (and frantically) to silence the power of this plainly stated goal.
We aren’t the Resistance Conservatives in Power are:
While it is important to rally like minded resistance to the powerful actors in the Conservative Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches, It is also important to know how unpopular their opinions are, and how they do not reflect the movement of society towards a better future. The United States is (thankfully) becoming more diverse. We also see a trend that Millennials and Gen Z citizens are both more Progressive, and increasingly see government as a positive actor for social change. This is not because of colleges or hip hop or a factor of youth. It’s because the younger generation see that the wealthy and powerful are not to be trusted with shaping our society. A great article worth reading is Michelle Alexander’s “We Are Not the Resistance” which does a much better job of framing this idea.
In the same interview with Representative Ocasio-Cortez andChris Hayes, Bob Inglis made a comparison between Progressive wings of the Democratic Party to the Tea Party, in response Representative Ocasio-Cortez stated,
“I find the framing of the Tea Party and our movement interesting because the grounding of the Tea Party was in xenophobia, the underpinnings of White Supremacy...I understand the comparison…but the difference is our district is overwhelmingly Progressive, and our representative was not representing our position...this is not the Tea Party of the Left this is a return to representative democracy”.
The national punditry, print media, and Democratic Party in the quest to stay balanced and reasonable placated to the unreasonableness of the Republican Party, and moved our collective discussion towards moderate right policies. What was left behind were large swaths of Progressives (many within city centers) whose voice was not being elevated by their elected officials. For someone like me who stress reads the news, it is good to know that I have not been alone in worrying about this trend, and am glad someone is stating it loudly for the record
The Meaning of Leader:
I know I am preaching to the choir, that AOC is going to divide people because what she is saying is new and exciting to the Left and absolutely frightening to the Right. But I want to narrowly focus, and share a quote that really touched me in a way that no other leader has. In response to the tragically laughable presentation on climate change by Representative Mike Lee, AOC wrote on Twitter:
Like many other women + working people, I occasionally suffer from impostor syndrome: those small moments, especially on hard days, where you wonder if the haters are right. But then they do things like this to clear it right up. If this guy can be Senator, you can do anything.
Set aside the massive burn she made, I really connected with the first part the most. I personally have dealt with anxiety and stress induced depression for most of my adult life. I am fortunate enough to have a good education, family, friends, a good job, but I irrationally still have this fear of the impostor syndrome which gives me physiological responses to failure, and panic inducing fears of success. For my entire life the face of leadership has been wealthy, elite, White and male. They lead by strength and bluster, with a touch of charisma and likability. As a White Male myself, I have never been able to meet that standard set by the status quo. It has been great for my mental health to see someone in a position of power and authority who while our intersectional characteristics don’t meet, have common ground in the letdowns of the past and hopes for the future. That is the true definition of a leader, not the person for which I can have make decisions independent of me , but someone who occupies my same hopes, fears and dreams for the future, and effectively communicates them in a way I can feel active and hopeful. Thank you Representative, for at least in a small part know that you have affected one fellow citizen in a way that gives me courage to get up in the morning and fight along with you.