The Left Has A Loser Problem

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The thing about politics is that you can’t do anything for anyone unless you win. You can talk and write and plan and strategize and rage and rage and rage but if you don’t win, you have nothing. Worse still: Your opponents have everything. It’s an annoying thing, and an inconvenient one for folks who would rather feel good about themselves than to empower those with whom they agree on most issues, or those who would do the most good or the least harm in running society. A warning: I’m going to sound old during this week’s Bad Faith Times podcast (check out last week’s BFT pod here ). On today’s podcast I am going to sound cleansed of the idealism that once animated my stance on every major issue. I might sound disillusioned, infected by the kind of pragmatism that drives some folks on the left insane. Maybe I am. It’s been a long century for millennials. Support the reader-backed Bad Faith Times with $5 a month and join the Bad Faith Times discord channel. You can also subscribe for free . The 22-year-old version of me would have listened to this little 13-minute BFT podcast and scoffed and muttered something about neoliberalism or Republican Light, anything to dismiss the 42-year-old me as a slightly nicer right winger who might actually be worse than a fascist when you really stop and think about it. How, the younger me might ask, could you ally with people who have no interest in a socialist utopia? Why would you make common cause with people who have not read Marx? Do they even do praxis bro? Read more on BadFaithTimes.com .