It’s something that’s struck me over and over as I’ve read through historical accounts of progressive movements, that despite their being ostensibly more collectivist compared to some conservative hyper-individualism…They struggle to hold together and coordinate to accomplish their goals. In some instances it’s interference or sabotage from outside, but as often it can be found from within as well.
What are some of the contributing factors here, and how might they be addressed to better accomplish progressive aims?
I think Conservatives have an easier time falling in line, they’re traditional authoritarians who believe that you should do as you’re told, follow orders, be a team player, take one for the team, respect authority, blah blah blah. They’re not a terribly diverse group of people, you’ve got fringe elements here and there, but all mostly respect the central authority. While we do see infighting at times amongst higher-up conservatives (basically internal power struggles), they mostly tend to fall in line when something is deemed a priority by leadership. Obviously there’s been exceptions to this, but it still holds up for most of them.
Liberals on the other hand can be just as catty with each other as they can be with Conservatives. The Democratic party has tried to create such a big tent and endear itself to so many different causes that each of these is fighting for attention within the party over who gets priority. You’ve got women with their abortion rights, economic inequality, feminism, #metoo, etc AND you’ve got black americans with civil rights issues, police brutality, racism, economic inequality, etc AND then you’ve got immigrants with immigration, exploitation, language barriers, religious clashes, etc AND then you’ve got the LGBTQIA+ movement with marriage equality, transgender discrimination, etc AND you’ve got environmentalists that are worried about global warming, carbon pollution, plastic pollution, etc AND you’ve got the Youth voters worried about education, the environment, their future in general, etc AND there’s plenty others I’m leaving out, or general causes that cut across these groups (like Israel/Gaza).
The point is, Liberals can’t seem to really focus on one issue before another issue bubbles to the surface, it’s almost schizophrenic, there’s too many voices and priorities all fighting to be addressed. How can you unite a group of people like that around a central issue that affects all of them at once? Economic inequality cuts across alot of lines, but for different reasons. Conservatives may have some competition between religious and business interests, but that doesn’t happen terribly often and they usually just go along with whatever they’re being told, they don’t have to think about anybody else other than themselves. “Trans people make me feel uncomfortable. They’re the bad guys now? Ok, yea, I’m all in.”
If you’re in agreement with another Liberal about an issue, but misspeak or generalize about the wrong thing, they’ll be all over you as if you have been a bigot your whole life. Liberals will turn on each other in a heartbeat. Conservatives, on the other extreme, can’t seem to let go of people no matter how horrible a person they’ve been revealed to be. Pedophile? Serial rapist? Fraud? Domestic abuse? Nah, you’re still cool with the GOP.