Episode 84: How Claims of Sowing Discord Are Used to Silence Criticism of Power
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Freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez taking to Twitter to criticize House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, we are told, \\u201cplays into the hands of Trump.\\u201d Russians are using Black Lives Matter and anti-fracking activists to \\u201csow discord,\\u201d insists CNN. We must \\u201cbe united\\u201d rather than \\u201cdivided.\\u201d
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Everywhere we turn we are told by high-status pundits that we shouldn\\u2019t air our criticisms of power at this particular moment with any reasonable degree of severity lest our mutual enemies exploit these divisions to empower themselves.\\xa0
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We are told again and again that progressives criticizing party leaders is helping Trump. That fighting Trump\\u2019s racism is merely \\u201cplaying into his hands,\\u201d that we shouldn\\u2019t attack other democrats in the primary too harshly lest it \\u201cgive us four more years of Trump.\\u201d
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But there\\u2019s a major problem with this: There\\u2019s no evidence that intra-party fighting loses elections or assists the "other side." In many ways, it may actually help engage voters and make them feel heard, rather than viewed as box-checkers for the already anointed.
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We are joined by Maximillian Alvarez of the podcast Working People.