Matt, I've been looking for a leader that can excite us and one we want to follow. You have just given us a number of names--a team ready to provide the leadership we need. I love your spin to Americans Strong, not victims who need our help. It reminds me of JFK when he said, we're going to fly to the moon, "not because it is easy but because it is hard." And also "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country." We need strong leadership with whom we can join. Thank you for offering several individuals who are ready. Let's hear more.
We are in this together. There are leaders everywhere. Together not only can we save our democracy, we can recover from this mess and continue to build up our great nation on the best of our shared values.
As always, a good post making a good point: elected Democrats are hardly the saviors they think they are, and even if they were, that’s not how political change happens. I'm glad farmers got a plank onto the Democratic platform, that helped Biden get elected.
But no, I do not see Americans, particularly rural Americans, as "the center of the action." Not even close. The reason why Republicans continue to get away with whatever the hell they want, no matter what Democrats say or do, no matter how harmful the GOP agenda is to huge chunks of their own voters is because: rural poor white people in the US have no history of organizing themselves in their own political interest. None whatsoever. This is a group that has, since our country’s founding, been fundamentally oppressed, and profoundly blind to the terms of their oppression.
To be sure, poor whites feel aggrieved and disempowered, prone to all sorts of cultural resentment, bigotry, rage. But that’s different from knowing what’s keeping them down, or how to organize themselves politically. Wealthy Republicans (in earlier eras it was wealthy Democrats) have convinced rural white people their enemy is Black people, or queer people, or immigrants, Jews, feminists. Not just in our lifetime, but FOR CENTURIES. Nowadays the GOP, the party of wealth and oligarchy, have a hammerlock on white rural working class votes by stoking hate, while robbing their voters blind. They twang their voices in folksy regional ways, though many of them—Hawley, Cruz, Cotton, DeSantis, Vance—are ivy-educated. (Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana is Oxford-educated, with a twang that is pure horse shit.)
The above has been pointed out to me many times by a friend, an astute Black man in his sixties who grew up in rural Virginia. Rural poor white people in America, who have always been among the most oppressed groups in this country, have consistently taken the bait of racism, “lost cause” bullshit, carpet-bagging charlatan preachers. Anything to avoid the shame of realizing how oppressed and low and hoodwinked they truly are. This is why Trump & company can do whatever they want to the Dept. of Education, Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, certainly foreign policy, certainly democracy itself, tax cuts for the wealthy, anything and everything—and rural white people are going to keep voting for them, voting on race, on fear of queers and immigrants and women's equality, on rage and grievance and guns, on whatever the hell their Rolls–Royce-owning pastors tell them to vote on. But never voting on economics, never voting as a group or organized force or movement.
Harness that. Right now Bernie Sanders is speaking on economic inequality to groups of rural white people about to lose their healthcare and entitlements (i.e., benefits they have paid for and to which they are entitled). I’d love to see what Sanders is doing replicated by a thousand others. There are centuries of history to overcome, but that would be a beginning.
"I’d love to see what Sanders is doing replicated by a thousand others. There are centuries of history to overcome, but that would be a beginning." Couldn't agree more.
Thank you Matt. Larry and I were part of the conversations about climate with Iowa Power and Light. Though the attendance was small, the discussion was fruitful.
I am observing many counties rejecting the top down approach and working from a grassroots that will eventually change the top.
These are the words that I cherish -
"Leadership is rooted not in power, but in service and wisdom"
"Though the attendance was small, the discussion was fruitful." That was actually one of the biggest lessons we learned in doing the work with farmers. It wasn't about big numbers, it was about authenticity and identity. When the work is grounded in that, a small number of people can make a huge difference. National Democratic leaders need to understand that the small numbers need to be us rather than the small numbers being the consultants they hire. Grass-roots not grass-tops. Authentic community voices, not million dollar ad buys.
I went to see Beto when he spoke in Waverly in 2019.. When I visited my daughter in Texas at Christmas during the 2019 holidays, Beto’s signs were still up. Thank you for writing this column. Beto’s name drew me to your column, and then your writing held me there.
great piece - you're right that it's got to be political leaders listening to the people they want to serve, learning from them, reflecting what they've learned in the campaigns they run. I learned a lot from you and Bob back in 2019 and in the years since, and am very grateful for it.
We know there are opportunities to work together. https://poweredxpeople.org/ is a great example of this work in Texas. Thanks for all you do to elevate new leaders.
The submissive cabal of so-called party leaders have a stranglehold on the power and purse strings of the Democratic Party on the national, state and local levels. They’re as intractable as our opposition. Insufferably arrogant , incompetent, corrupt and clueless regarding their situation and world view. Really don’t believe they are capable of escaping the Geist they live in.
I’m starting to believe a total failure has occurred which cannot be reversed or remedied by any conventional methods. The brand is rendered obsolete. The only phoenix I envision is a completely new product model of populism. Borrowing from La Follette , William O. Douglas and Sam Adams, to name a few. MAGA was based in deep rooted radicalism, albeit deranged and evil. Perhaps, we could use “Common Sense,” ( Thomas Paine ) as our dogma to resurrect what the founders intended.
This would require powerful orators, aligned with the finest minds ( we have seemingly all the Nobel laureates and rest of the non- authoritarian world supporting us) combined with every divergent group cohorts existent, for a final battle.
Fear IS the drug and we need to use it like fentanyl cotton candy.
Please know that although these musings may sound like complete heresy to most (myself included), they emanate from the very fundamental principles which have made me a lifelong Democratic Party devotee.
Having held a formal position in the 1967-68, Eugene McCarthy presidential campaign before I was eligible to vote, performed every conceivable exercise in conventional campaigning (door knocking, canvassing, phone banking, letter stuffing, fundraising, candidate home hosting, et alia), serving on the Polk County Central Committee, a delegate to multiple county, regional and state Democratic conventions; you know, all the activities the majority you have also done. This viewpoint is controversial at best. Heretical to the point of expungement at worst. And, it’s in no sense an indictment of other patriotic, hardworking Democrats, whose efforts are currently holding the line against the cruel lawbreakers who seek to oppress us.
However, I believe we’ve arrived at a seminal point in our history. One, which requires actions worthy of Sun Tzu. Please convince me otherwise.
Great article. Responding just to economics part, I've been focusing on similar issues in the AEC Industry. Whether it's sustainable farming, sustainable construction, or renewable energy, the free market (in it's current form) doesn't sufficiently factor in the costs associated with negative health impacts and negative environmental impacts (we essentially subsidize bad farming practices and non-sustainable construction by not taking these into account). My latest effort is a two-part piece. The first I've already done - Gaming the System (https://marcelharmon67.substack.com/p/gaming-the-system), but I haven't had time yet to finish it's companion piece.
Nobody elevates others better than Dr. Bob. He sets the standard. Very grateful that we have been able to continue to work together, even though we had to take a break while I was at USDA.
"It’s a losing strategy. It’s doubling down on the “Democrats will save us trope”, instead of unleashing the power of Americans right now to stand up for our nation." I'll get to the topic, I promise.
Let's entertain this idea for a moment. There is mounting evidence that there was significant election interference through "back door" digital manipulation of the data in the tabulators across the 7 swing States. Election Truth Alliance is the first organization to come forward by examining various voting districts in which there were suspicious drop offs that were counterintuitive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWSWqn7UHYM
Trump's Freudian slips about how "they rigged the election and I won in a landslide in Pennsylvania" and "I don't need any more votes"..."you don't have to vote for me"..."I have plenty of votes, more than enough". "Pretty soon, you will never have to vote again."
Why would a candidate make such remarks a few days before an election? I say, Trump is trying to use irrational justification for why he lost in 2020. That is, his own psychological need for showing the world how easy it is to rig an election...and that's what the Democrats did...see, I didn't lose, the election was stolen from me.
Taking this notion a step further as a psychologist, I say it was the need for him to even make condemning self-statements...essentially admitting guilt, to ensure the public knew he had not lost. Someone like him, an arrogant narcissist, cannot handle the cognitive dissonance and thus, if unconstrained, they can behave in ways that could be very counter productive...especially from a legal status.
I am an organic farmer and I like the idea of appropriating funds for conservation projects that truly help advance climate smart challenges. I have had several EQIP and CSP contracts to do just that. But first, let's get our country back and right all of these wrongs that are happening. In my heart and knowing the shenanigans of the Trump family from growing up on Long Island, combined with the free reign T has given Musk to lessen regulations of his own projects and the fact that he contributed nearly $300M (which I say was used as a scapegoat distraction to support the idea that the money influenced voter decision making at a critical time), when actually it made hardly any impact. T went along with Musk because he assured victory without a doubt. It's that simple.
At this juncture, after seeing the raucous display in the Oval Office, along with global tensions surrounding T's warming with Putin, I can tell you that statisticians all over the world are reviewing the data mentioned in the video from the Mark Thomson show, on which Nathan Taylor, a statistician at Election Truth Alliance, revealed the anomalies in the algorithms, along with explanations and preliminary hunches for how and why those occurred. The world does not want T in the White House and it is apparent they are supporting the initiative to provide irrefutable evidence that the voting results were not accurate and T did not win!
You've probably heard it many times, prison or Presidency. The decision, if this is how it went down, makes total sense.
PJ022 is right on some points. But, in today’s world, everyday citizens are overwhelmed by lies and misinformation and need some outside help. PJ022 is right — Trump’s supporters remain loyal, no matter what.
I agree that grassroots efforts are essential. But they must run alongside Democratic Party efforts. Like it or not, the Democratic Party remains the largest organized opposition to Trump and Musk.
Also, like it or not, Democratic elected officials and aligned advocacy groups have the biggest megaphones. Grassroots groups must be pushed as hard as Democratic elected officials- to be louder, bolder, and more outspoken. D federal ndidates should be out holding hearings on federal cuts and policies. D candidates should not listen to political consultants who advise them to wait until election year cycles.
Just last Saturday, we had 200 people packed into a church basement in Ames for a Democratic event — more energy than I’ve seen in some caucus years. For two weeks straight, we’ve had 30 people crammed into a living room working on the Wisconsin judicial race and Southeast Iowa’s special election.
What is stopping these ordinary citizens from acting now on their own and with each other? Why do they need the Democrats at all? Many actions and protests are taking place around the country with a minimal number being led by Democrats. It is ordinary citizens that are fed up with the Trump/Musk policies and government destruction. The polls I’ve read show most Trump voters are still buying the line perpetuated by Trump/ Musk and Fox that they cutting waste, fraud, and abuse. If people are interested in knowing what is happening and choose to get their information from more than one source they don’t need elites or anyone else telling them what is happening.
It's not about telling people what's happening, it's about investing the resources in movement building. Social movements can grow organically from the ground up without support from money and power. But they grow a lot faster if they are resourced to grow rather than resources being used to support top down approaches that actually work against the ground up movement.
Matt, I've been looking for a leader that can excite us and one we want to follow. You have just given us a number of names--a team ready to provide the leadership we need. I love your spin to Americans Strong, not victims who need our help. It reminds me of JFK when he said, we're going to fly to the moon, "not because it is easy but because it is hard." And also "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country." We need strong leadership with whom we can join. Thank you for offering several individuals who are ready. Let's hear more.
We are in this together. There are leaders everywhere. Together not only can we save our democracy, we can recover from this mess and continue to build up our great nation on the best of our shared values.
As always, a good post making a good point: elected Democrats are hardly the saviors they think they are, and even if they were, that’s not how political change happens. I'm glad farmers got a plank onto the Democratic platform, that helped Biden get elected.
But no, I do not see Americans, particularly rural Americans, as "the center of the action." Not even close. The reason why Republicans continue to get away with whatever the hell they want, no matter what Democrats say or do, no matter how harmful the GOP agenda is to huge chunks of their own voters is because: rural poor white people in the US have no history of organizing themselves in their own political interest. None whatsoever. This is a group that has, since our country’s founding, been fundamentally oppressed, and profoundly blind to the terms of their oppression.
To be sure, poor whites feel aggrieved and disempowered, prone to all sorts of cultural resentment, bigotry, rage. But that’s different from knowing what’s keeping them down, or how to organize themselves politically. Wealthy Republicans (in earlier eras it was wealthy Democrats) have convinced rural white people their enemy is Black people, or queer people, or immigrants, Jews, feminists. Not just in our lifetime, but FOR CENTURIES. Nowadays the GOP, the party of wealth and oligarchy, have a hammerlock on white rural working class votes by stoking hate, while robbing their voters blind. They twang their voices in folksy regional ways, though many of them—Hawley, Cruz, Cotton, DeSantis, Vance—are ivy-educated. (Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana is Oxford-educated, with a twang that is pure horse shit.)
The above has been pointed out to me many times by a friend, an astute Black man in his sixties who grew up in rural Virginia. Rural poor white people in America, who have always been among the most oppressed groups in this country, have consistently taken the bait of racism, “lost cause” bullshit, carpet-bagging charlatan preachers. Anything to avoid the shame of realizing how oppressed and low and hoodwinked they truly are. This is why Trump & company can do whatever they want to the Dept. of Education, Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, certainly foreign policy, certainly democracy itself, tax cuts for the wealthy, anything and everything—and rural white people are going to keep voting for them, voting on race, on fear of queers and immigrants and women's equality, on rage and grievance and guns, on whatever the hell their Rolls–Royce-owning pastors tell them to vote on. But never voting on economics, never voting as a group or organized force or movement.
Harness that. Right now Bernie Sanders is speaking on economic inequality to groups of rural white people about to lose their healthcare and entitlements (i.e., benefits they have paid for and to which they are entitled). I’d love to see what Sanders is doing replicated by a thousand others. There are centuries of history to overcome, but that would be a beginning.
"I’d love to see what Sanders is doing replicated by a thousand others. There are centuries of history to overcome, but that would be a beginning." Couldn't agree more.
Thank you Matt. Larry and I were part of the conversations about climate with Iowa Power and Light. Though the attendance was small, the discussion was fruitful.
I am observing many counties rejecting the top down approach and working from a grassroots that will eventually change the top.
These are the words that I cherish -
"Leadership is rooted not in power, but in service and wisdom"
- Robin Wall Kimmerer
"Though the attendance was small, the discussion was fruitful." That was actually one of the biggest lessons we learned in doing the work with farmers. It wasn't about big numbers, it was about authenticity and identity. When the work is grounded in that, a small number of people can make a huge difference. National Democratic leaders need to understand that the small numbers need to be us rather than the small numbers being the consultants they hire. Grass-roots not grass-tops. Authentic community voices, not million dollar ad buys.
I went to see Beto when he spoke in Waverly in 2019.. When I visited my daughter in Texas at Christmas during the 2019 holidays, Beto’s signs were still up. Thank you for writing this column. Beto’s name drew me to your column, and then your writing held me there.
This is a time when we all need to be drawn together. Thanks for your kind words and welcome to Coyote Run Farm.
great piece - you're right that it's got to be political leaders listening to the people they want to serve, learning from them, reflecting what they've learned in the campaigns they run. I learned a lot from you and Bob back in 2019 and in the years since, and am very grateful for it.
We know there are opportunities to work together. https://poweredxpeople.org/ is a great example of this work in Texas. Thanks for all you do to elevate new leaders.
Thank you, Beto. It's been great to work with you.
Bravo, Matt.
Thanks for your time Matt. Just wanted to let everyone know where I stand about the urgency for change.
That's what's great about this community on Substack. We can share ideas.
The submissive cabal of so-called party leaders have a stranglehold on the power and purse strings of the Democratic Party on the national, state and local levels. They’re as intractable as our opposition. Insufferably arrogant , incompetent, corrupt and clueless regarding their situation and world view. Really don’t believe they are capable of escaping the Geist they live in.
I’m starting to believe a total failure has occurred which cannot be reversed or remedied by any conventional methods. The brand is rendered obsolete. The only phoenix I envision is a completely new product model of populism. Borrowing from La Follette , William O. Douglas and Sam Adams, to name a few. MAGA was based in deep rooted radicalism, albeit deranged and evil. Perhaps, we could use “Common Sense,” ( Thomas Paine ) as our dogma to resurrect what the founders intended.
This would require powerful orators, aligned with the finest minds ( we have seemingly all the Nobel laureates and rest of the non- authoritarian world supporting us) combined with every divergent group cohorts existent, for a final battle.
Fear IS the drug and we need to use it like fentanyl cotton candy.
Please know that although these musings may sound like complete heresy to most (myself included), they emanate from the very fundamental principles which have made me a lifelong Democratic Party devotee.
Having held a formal position in the 1967-68, Eugene McCarthy presidential campaign before I was eligible to vote, performed every conceivable exercise in conventional campaigning (door knocking, canvassing, phone banking, letter stuffing, fundraising, candidate home hosting, et alia), serving on the Polk County Central Committee, a delegate to multiple county, regional and state Democratic conventions; you know, all the activities the majority you have also done. This viewpoint is controversial at best. Heretical to the point of expungement at worst. And, it’s in no sense an indictment of other patriotic, hardworking Democrats, whose efforts are currently holding the line against the cruel lawbreakers who seek to oppress us.
However, I believe we’ve arrived at a seminal point in our history. One, which requires actions worthy of Sun Tzu. Please convince me otherwise.
Also spot on about Bob opening doors and elevating people.
Great article. Responding just to economics part, I've been focusing on similar issues in the AEC Industry. Whether it's sustainable farming, sustainable construction, or renewable energy, the free market (in it's current form) doesn't sufficiently factor in the costs associated with negative health impacts and negative environmental impacts (we essentially subsidize bad farming practices and non-sustainable construction by not taking these into account). My latest effort is a two-part piece. The first I've already done - Gaming the System (https://marcelharmon67.substack.com/p/gaming-the-system), but I haven't had time yet to finish it's companion piece.
Love that you two are working together!!!!!
Nobody elevates others better than Dr. Bob. He sets the standard. Very grateful that we have been able to continue to work together, even though we had to take a break while I was at USDA.
matt has good theory to put in to practice.
thanks for the kind words.
"It’s a losing strategy. It’s doubling down on the “Democrats will save us trope”, instead of unleashing the power of Americans right now to stand up for our nation." I'll get to the topic, I promise.
Let's entertain this idea for a moment. There is mounting evidence that there was significant election interference through "back door" digital manipulation of the data in the tabulators across the 7 swing States. Election Truth Alliance is the first organization to come forward by examining various voting districts in which there were suspicious drop offs that were counterintuitive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWSWqn7UHYM
Trump's Freudian slips about how "they rigged the election and I won in a landslide in Pennsylvania" and "I don't need any more votes"..."you don't have to vote for me"..."I have plenty of votes, more than enough". "Pretty soon, you will never have to vote again."
Why would a candidate make such remarks a few days before an election? I say, Trump is trying to use irrational justification for why he lost in 2020. That is, his own psychological need for showing the world how easy it is to rig an election...and that's what the Democrats did...see, I didn't lose, the election was stolen from me.
Taking this notion a step further as a psychologist, I say it was the need for him to even make condemning self-statements...essentially admitting guilt, to ensure the public knew he had not lost. Someone like him, an arrogant narcissist, cannot handle the cognitive dissonance and thus, if unconstrained, they can behave in ways that could be very counter productive...especially from a legal status.
I am an organic farmer and I like the idea of appropriating funds for conservation projects that truly help advance climate smart challenges. I have had several EQIP and CSP contracts to do just that. But first, let's get our country back and right all of these wrongs that are happening. In my heart and knowing the shenanigans of the Trump family from growing up on Long Island, combined with the free reign T has given Musk to lessen regulations of his own projects and the fact that he contributed nearly $300M (which I say was used as a scapegoat distraction to support the idea that the money influenced voter decision making at a critical time), when actually it made hardly any impact. T went along with Musk because he assured victory without a doubt. It's that simple.
At this juncture, after seeing the raucous display in the Oval Office, along with global tensions surrounding T's warming with Putin, I can tell you that statisticians all over the world are reviewing the data mentioned in the video from the Mark Thomson show, on which Nathan Taylor, a statistician at Election Truth Alliance, revealed the anomalies in the algorithms, along with explanations and preliminary hunches for how and why those occurred. The world does not want T in the White House and it is apparent they are supporting the initiative to provide irrefutable evidence that the voting results were not accurate and T did not win!
You've probably heard it many times, prison or Presidency. The decision, if this is how it went down, makes total sense.
Bravo 💙🇺🇸💙
PJ022 is right on some points. But, in today’s world, everyday citizens are overwhelmed by lies and misinformation and need some outside help. PJ022 is right — Trump’s supporters remain loyal, no matter what.
I agree that grassroots efforts are essential. But they must run alongside Democratic Party efforts. Like it or not, the Democratic Party remains the largest organized opposition to Trump and Musk.
Also, like it or not, Democratic elected officials and aligned advocacy groups have the biggest megaphones. Grassroots groups must be pushed as hard as Democratic elected officials- to be louder, bolder, and more outspoken. D federal ndidates should be out holding hearings on federal cuts and policies. D candidates should not listen to political consultants who advise them to wait until election year cycles.
Just last Saturday, we had 200 people packed into a church basement in Ames for a Democratic event — more energy than I’ve seen in some caucus years. For two weeks straight, we’ve had 30 people crammed into a living room working on the Wisconsin judicial race and Southeast Iowa’s special election.
What is stopping these ordinary citizens from acting now on their own and with each other? Why do they need the Democrats at all? Many actions and protests are taking place around the country with a minimal number being led by Democrats. It is ordinary citizens that are fed up with the Trump/Musk policies and government destruction. The polls I’ve read show most Trump voters are still buying the line perpetuated by Trump/ Musk and Fox that they cutting waste, fraud, and abuse. If people are interested in knowing what is happening and choose to get their information from more than one source they don’t need elites or anyone else telling them what is happening.
It's not about telling people what's happening, it's about investing the resources in movement building. Social movements can grow organically from the ground up without support from money and power. But they grow a lot faster if they are resourced to grow rather than resources being used to support top down approaches that actually work against the ground up movement.
Thank you, Matt and Bob. Good ideas, though I'm not sure how you get this to happen,
Margaret