Why do progressive movements keep losing, even though they tend to be on the right side of history and promote policy positions that benefit the majority of people?
Why are they unable to amass and hold on to political power that would allow fundamental reforms? Why did the protests against the failed Iraq War, or the Occupy Movement, or marches against genocide seem to have very little impact on elected officials who continue with the status quo?
Organizer Yotam Marom has thought long and hard about these questions because he’s tired of losing.
He marched against the Bush Administration and played a leadership role in the Occupy Movement. He’s a co-founder of IfNotNow and the Wildfire Project, and yet both Democrats and Republicans are still perfectly fine cozying up to billionaires and war criminals. (Look at Senator Schumer marching alongside Israeli fanatics at Sunday’s Israel Day Parade.)
Marom believes many progressive movements suffer from a “politics of powerlessness.” There is no way to dismantle authoritarian regimes or end wars forever without an organized mass of people. Unfortunately, this collective energy often lacks leadership, remains ambivalent about power, and often divides itself with purity tests and insularity instead of reaching out and gaining more members.
Marom believes there’s a better way forward, and the current moment is the perfect time to activate a multicultural majority coalition against oppressive regimes and systems who have become too comfortable inflicting pain and suffering on the masses. We’re seeing people come out for the No Kings Rally, protest against ICE, and reject unconditional support for Israel. This would have been unthinkable five years ago. People are rising against the broligarchy and the Epstein Class, but power still belongs at the top, and there is a long way to go towards justice and reform.
Marom joins The Left Hook to discuss his book “For Louder Days: Reaching Beyond a Politics of Powerlessness” and charts a better path forward
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Thank you Chloe Humbert, LeftieProf, Peter W Shuster, Noble Blend, Skutt Hope, and many others for tuning into my live video with Yotam Marom! Join me for my next live video in the app.
