Liberals Can Win if They Stop Being So Annoying and Fix Their 'Hamburger Problem'


This article does a really good job with articulating one of the significant problems for the Democratic Party after having gained so much ground in the cultural wars in the last couple decades, and why it might be one of the chief reasons they're actually losing quite a bit of ground with voters.

Regardless of political policy, people don't like busybodies, and when you've dialed busybodying up, you're going to cause annoyance and distrust.  Treating people like they have to be "more like you" in order to claim the moral high ground isn't a good strategy if it's forcing them to significantly alter their daily lives, when their daily lives aren't problematic to any real, significant degree.

Take, for example, Woody Allen's statement when he was asked about the meaning of of the existence of the universe: "Can we actually 'know' the universe? My God, it's hard enough finding your way around in Chinatown."

Imagine someone morally shaming you into better answering the question about the existence of the universe before you learn how to find your way around Chinatown.  How do we think a grown adult is going to respond to being chided about choices on things like eating a burger, watching football, mowing their lawns, or driving an SUV?

There may not actually be any policy on the table ... or even verbally proposed ... but if it's even being pushed strongly as a moral position to the point that it feels like cultural bullying, it's going to certainly drive people away.

As it pertains to modern matters of factory farming or emissions, it doesn't mean they aren't important issues, but publicly shaming someone for opting not to address them in their daily lives right now is no way to maintain cultural authority.  Moreover, it undermines the ground by which you've won on cultural matters in the past ... gay marriage being a perfect example ... whereby the emphasis was freedom of choice and LESS intrusion on daily life, not more.

If the Dems want to reverse course on their "hamburger problem"  (did you misspell hamburger on purpose btw?), then it's going to take years.  It's not something that will happen overnight.  Also, reversing course will require them to take a step back imo.  It's one of those issues you have to take a couple losses in order to be able to progress forward and make positive gains.

posted by like_that

If the Dems want to reverse course on their "hamburger problem"  (did you misspell hamburger on purpose btw?), then it's going to take years.  It's not something that will happen overnight.  Also, reversing course will require them to take a step back imo.  It's one of those issues you have to take a couple losses in order to be able to progress forward and make positive gains.

The first time I saw the article, I think I was anticipating "hamberder," and I wrote that.  Went back to fix the 'g'.  Forgot the 'e'.  I'll fix it, since it wasn't intended.

All it takes is one patriotic french fry...

Agree with the content of the article.  Dems can't get out of their own fucking way.  I absolutely love the train wreck, not going to lie. 

posted by ernest_t_bass

Agree with the content of the article.  Dems can't get out of their own fucking way.  I absolutely love the train wreck, not going to lie. 

I feel like Biden will probably win because the socialists are going to split 70% of the vote, leaving Biden with a comfortable 30% plurality he gets by default without even opening his mouth.  But therein lays the problem - he can't keep his mouth shut.

posted by gut

I feel like Biden will probably win because the socialists are going to split 70% of the vote, leaving Biden with a comfortable 30% plurality he gets by default without even opening his mouth.  But therein lays the problem - he can't keep his mouth shut.

Or ... you know ... off unwilling targets of "platonic" affection.

The culture is shifting in the libs' favor at a rate rarely seen in history, and it's STILL not fast enough for them. Agree that they'd be better served to STFU and stop pissing everybody off. Obviously that won't happen, because...you know...libs. 

posted by fish82

The culture is shifting in the libs' favor at a rate rarely seen in history, and it's STILL not fast enough for them. Agree that they'd be better served to STFU and stop pissing everybody off. Obviously that won't happen, because...you know...libs. 

posted by fish82

The culture is shifting in the libs' favor at a rate rarely seen in history, and it's STILL not fast enough for them.

That's the problem with activism.  It's a psychological/physiological need.  They never get their way and just go home, mission accomplished.  No, they go searching for the next cause, and the more they win the more extreme/fringe those causes become.  And people become de-sensitized to their bullshit, so they get louder and more aggressive as a result.

And that's how Trump wins an election.

posted by gut

That's the problem with activism.  It's a psychological/physiological need.  They never get their way and just go home, mission accomplished.  No, they go searching for the next cause, and the more they win the more extreme/fringe those causes become.  And people become de-sensitized to their bullshit, so they get louder and more aggressive as a result.

 

There's another outcome other than winning.  Many local activists just burnout because they don't get any "wins", if that's the right word.  Or they focus on the negatives so much they've managed to convince themselves there are no positives anywhere - and that leads to depression. physical problems (bad diet, lack of sleep, etc), and sadly, even suicide.