The Case for Nauseous Optimism
Oh, and he’s a Holocaust denier with a history of antisemitic remarks. He’s suggested that 9/11 was an “inside job,” that the music industry is run by Satan, and that billionaire Democratic donor George Soros orchestrated the Boko Haram kidnappings of school girls in 2014.
Robinson isn’t the only gonzo Republican nominee, but he typifies the grotesque values of MAGA leaders, including those of its likely presidential candidate.
The reason these bigots and haters are fighting so hard to defeat us is they know progressives are the future of America.
Neither their filibusters, nor their gerrymanders, nor their attempts at voter suppression can stop our rise. Nor can their absurd “great replacement theory,” or even their Supreme Court majority.
I’ve been at this game for almost three-quarters of a century. It’s a long game, and America still has a long way to go. But apart from Trump fanatics, the nation is in many ways better and stronger now than it has ever been — more inclusive, more tolerant, more diverse, more accepting, more dynamic. And it will be far better and stronger years from now, because we are rising.
Sure, we must do better at organizing, mobilizing, and energizing. And get elected lawmakers, along with judges and Supreme Court justices, who reflect our beliefs and values. The Democratic Party must be bolder at countering the power of big corporations and big money. And more aggressive in recruiting and supporting a new generation of progressive leaders in electoral politics.
All of us must become a pro-democracy movement— with all the passion and tenacity that movements require.
Even so, I see a new progressive era dawning in America, and I don’t believe Trump Republicans can hold back the tide.
I see the strongest support for unions since the 1960s. Last year, at least 457,000 workers participated in a record 315 strikes in the United States — and won most with contracts providing higher wages and better benefits.
Over the past 18 months, graduate student teachers and research assistants at Berkeley, MIT, and Caltech have voted overwhelmingly to unionize. The United Auto Workers has scored signal victories for autoworkers. As has the Teamsters for UPS workers. Hell, even Dartmouth College’s men’s basketball team has voted to unionize.
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