It was genuine curiosity. There are people like you was my point. Perhaps not enough, but not everyone has the resources to be an activist. And it should hardly be surprising that people stayed home this time, considering what was on offer.
Out of interest, what do you do to push for progressive reform? Because if it’s phone banking for right-wingers, I’m not sure that counts.
I have lost track of the times that a liberal/conservative acquaintance has completely gone off on one at me, completely oblivious to the fact that I’m biting my lip for the sake of politeness. The irony is that it’s always “you can’t say anything these days” etc etc I KNOW MATE, I CAN’T
That’s not how monopoly ends in my house
Also to force privatisations on the member states who don’t have the clout to just ignore the rules
Again though, I really can’t blame people for being disillusioned with the democratic system in general, right? We’ve just been through a generational moment where any viable left opposition in the West got shit-housed into oblivion, and AOC is giving us a great lesson in what succeeding through the proper channels means in practice. And what has been the response from the political class more generally? To move even further right!
It’s a miserable situation ofc, and I don’t blame you at all for venting. But neither do I blame people for venting despite doing nothing else. Sanders raised a lot of money, and a lot of volunteer hours, and what did it yield? And the fallout from Corbynism has been as bad if not worse. Many people got blacklisted over it, and several door knockers ended up in hospital — why would anyone want to put themselves on the line like that again, especially when the potential gains are so meager?
Dgmw, I too wish that people would channel their anger through effective organizing, but imho it’s become a lot less clear in recent years what that would mean.