Meeting The Moment

This morning nonprofitaf published the call to action “It’s Time for Left-Leaning Funders to Fully Fund and Engage in Political Warfare”. Vu, as always, admirably says what many need to hear. 

This call to action is deeply contextualized in the decades of right-wing organizing that built to this moment.

I’d like to second the sentiment and add an amendment; there is a desperate need to embrace new tactics. I truly believe there are ways to increase energy, momentum, and add disruption to right wing populism without succumbing to shady tactics or harmful rhetoric. Here are observations in a Canadian context from the last 15 years of campaigning and organizing:

1. Invest In People
   
   Take ten seconds and write down as many right-wing personalities who aren’t politicians. Now do the same with progressive individuals. Was the second list harder?
   We don’t have to go so far as embracing the cult of the individual that right wing populists do, but investing in people is a long overdue necessity. In Canada some of our strongest, most important voices and advocates for progressive causes are barely paying rent. Progressive parties and organizations vocally support labour publicly, but fight collective agreements and embrace poor labour practices privately when it is deemed ‘worthy’ for the cause. Bright young people are chewed up and spit out by the campaign machine, leaving only the most economically stable and socially connected to grow their careers in the sector. And when progressive politicians, activists, and employees are under personal threat, there is no united front to support them.
   Meanwhile in Canada fundamentalist Christian movements are funding, recruiting, and training like minded individuals to pursue political office with a mission to attack the rights of trans folks. The loudest, and incredibly incorrect voice, opposing safe supply and demonizing drug users has been caught admitting he collaborated with foreign intelligence while working for the National Post and still remains employed. 
   Progressives can embrace the fervor of supporting each other, including financially, and leave the unhinged ethics behind.
   

2. Grow Rapid Response
   
   Rapid response is one of the most powerful movement tools, but it is severely under utilized in progressive spaces. Yes there are phone zaps, and protests, and traditional methods of organizing; but these aren’t keeping up with the pace of right wing mania. 
   One of my favourite podcasts, You’re Wrong About, revisits stories that were initially over sensationalized and subsequently misconstrued in the public imagination. One of the lessons it illustrates over and over again is how difficult it is to correct the record after the first wave of information hits. The episode about the ‘Bystander Apathy’ which starts from a story of “28 people let a woman get murdered in public because no one called 911” you have probably heard. The real story about Kitty Genovese, her life and preventable death, is a must listen.
   But returning to rapid response, correcting misinformation in real time before it gains steam to become widely accepted is a mandatory for the moment we are in. This can include embracing social listening tools to identify stories before they escalate, creating contingency content plans with your team, having strong narrative structures in place to facilitate quick response, and developing a rapid response approval pipeline that prioritizes time.
   A blog post on your website a week after a story breaks, after going through four rounds of revisions and needing the sign off of seven people, is not going to correct the record in a powerful or meaningful way.
   

3. Disrupt, distract, dismantle
   
   When I was working in a political office during COVID there were some fringe politicians who gained a small but dedicated following from conspiracy theorists and anti-vax enthusiasts. There were days where staff spent our time fielding thousands of threats and accusations; through the phone, social media, emails, and even snail-mail. What they did was horrible for our sense of safety and wellbeing, and it took away time and resources from the work we wanted to be doing.
   There are ways to disrupt right wing organizers in non-malicious ways. There’s absolutely no need to threaten or harass anyone ever, but disrupting and distracting their work? That’s just a good strategy.
   Creating social media toolkits, whatsapp groups, and specialized email newsletters to mobilize supporters into disrupting their local representatives whenever they attempt anti-trans rhetoric, dismiss environmental impacts, or embrace privatized health care is not only a way to distract those politicians – but it can also keep your base engaged. 

However, none of these tactics are worth much without the strong vision of an alternative to our current nightmare. In tarot there is a card called The Tower, whose fundamental lesson is about the need for things to collapse in order to rebuild. I think that’s the moment we are in.