ArcaMax

Microsoft just agreed not to oppose unionization efforts. Starbucks — which has spent the last two-and-a-half years intimidating baristas, employing union-busting attorneys, and refusing to bargain with any of the roughly 400 outlets that have voted to go union — has just agreed to do the same.

Here’s the bottom line: The majority of Americans view today’s record-breaking inequalities of income and wealth as dangerous. They believe government has no business forcing women to give birth or telling consenting adults how to conduct the most intimate aspects of their lives.

They want to limit access to guns. They see climate change is an existential threat to the nation and the world. They want to act against systemic racism. They don’t want innocent civilians killed, whether on our streets or in Gaza. They don’t want to give Putin a free hand. They want to protect American democracy from authoritarianism.

The giant millennial generation — a larger cohort than the boomers — is the most progressive cohort in recent history. They’ve faced an inequitable economic system, a runaway climate crisis, and the herculean costs of trying to have a family — including everything from unaffordable child care to wildly unaffordable housing. They’re demanding a more equitable and sustainable society because they desperately need one.

Young women have become significantly more progressive over the past decade (even if young men have remained largely unchanged). They’re more likely than ever to support LGBTQ+ rights, gay or lesbian couples as parents, men staying home with children, and women serving in the military. And more likely to loathe Donald Trump and any politician who emulates him.

Over the next two decades, young women will be moving into positions of greater power and leadership. They compose a remarkable 60% of college undergraduates.

Meanwhile, the United States is projected to become a majority-minority nation within the next two decades.

Not all people of color believe in all the progressive values I mention above, of course. A sizable share of Black voters is uneasy with LGBTQ+ rights. Yet overall, people of color are deeply concerned about the nation’s widening inequalities. They’re committed to social justice. They want to act against systemic racism, and they want to protect American democracy.

Unsurprisingly, these trends have ignited a backlash — especially among Americans who are older, whiter, straighter, without college degrees, and male. These Americans have become susceptible to an authoritarian strongman peddling conspiracy theories and stoking hatred.

Trump Republicans want us to be discouraged. They want us to despair. That’s part of their strategy. They figure that if we’re pessimistic enough, we won’t even fight — and they’ll win everything.

But I believe their backlash is doomed. The Republican Party has become a regressive cesspool, headed by increasingly unmoored people who are utterly out of touch with the dominant and emerging values of America. And most Americans are catching on.

I don’t mean to be a Pollyanna. We’re in the fight of our lives. It will demand a great deal of our energy, our time, and our courage. But this fight is critical and noble. It will set the course for America and the world for decades. And it is winnable.

The point is: It’s appropriate to be nauseously optimistic.