Political Paralysis of the American Weenie Social Democrat

[substitute]

I feel politically defeated. I'm on the left end of the Democratic party, more of a social democrat type. My adult life began just as we started to lose ground, and my country has gone inexorably to the right since.

When I was younger, I voted and volunteered and protested, and wrote. Now that I am older and more established, I vote and volunteer and protest and write, and contribute. It doesn't seem like enough.

At this point I consider my country's government illegitimate and lawless. The opposition, my party my whole life, is both weak and collaborating. There are very few individual legislators who represent anything like my point of view. I wonder what cause my contributions to the party will support, other than the personal careers of some prominent traitors.

Worst of all, the actual opposition seems totally fragmented. There are various small organizations who all want money and support from me and appear to have my values, but they're tiny and ignored. The radical left has been navel-gazing since 1969 and the more moderate types I resonate with have no voice.

My question for the group mind is: What can I as an individual do that makes the most impact on this situation? I'm horrible at politics and I do so poorly in political organizations that the whole prospect of getting more involved is both frightening and depressing. It's like church; as soon as you think you agree with your compatriots someone will bring up a divisive issue and the whole thing falls apart.

Is there a single-issue or focused group that deserves my entire financial and personal support, that's making a big difference? A candidate or politician perhaps not in my locale who deserves that kind of focus? A cause where I can work without being disillusioned in 30 seconds? I invite suggestion and comment.

I am tired of feeling defeated and marginalized. I'd like to take some ground.

Editorial Note: flamewars in the comments will be deleted. so don't even.

Comments

[the-angelmoroni.livejournal.com]

bear with me, im typically a-political

I think you hit the nail on the head with the term 'group mind'. The repulicans have it, and the democrats don't.

a small example would be the new torture/habeas corpus bill that just passed. For the past year McCain has been actively speaking against bush and his torture policy. When it came time to vote, McCain voted in favor of it.

Now take all of our friends, being mostly center or left of center. And lets throw in a fairly inconsequential issue in... say vegetarianism. If a vegetarian bill were to be brought up, our friends would be about 50/50 on the issue, and the votes would reflect that.

essentially, in a nation divided, the democratic party is a party divided. For one man to fix this, it would look like helping people set aside their egos, and voting for the greater good of the party, even if they don't agree with specific bills or policy, just like McCain did for the torture bill.

[threepunchstuff.livejournal.com]

'group mind'. The repulicans have it, and the democrats don't.

This has actually been measured, empirically, both as mass behavior and on the level of the individual voter. Check out the work of a political scientist named John Zaller and a psychologist named David Sears. Both at UCLA.