Thread by @ShantMM

Social media has rotted your entire political project, Micah...

A strong data point in support of this is the professional left's penchant for employing slogans that do the exact opposite of what any rational, outcome-focused political project would do.

Usually, a political slogan will be designed to make a particular policy broader and more palatable to the public. More in line with mainstream preferences and beliefs. The professional Left tends to do the exact opposite.

A great example of this is Micah's very own "Defund the Police." If you scratch the surface a little on Jacobin's position, it's clear they just mean cutting police budgets and redirecting the cut funds to social spending.

Now, to be clear, cutting police budgets is itself not a broadly popular policy, especially among the people who the Brooklyn socialists pretend to speak for — people in low-income, violence-prone, high-crime communities.

But setting that aside, what sane person would think the best slogan to sell this policy to the public is "Defund the police"? To the vast majority of people, "defunding" means cutting off its funds. Ending the program. No more police.

And that's what gives the game away. This isn't about achieving a political outcome, it's about signaling radical luxury beliefs that situate you within an exclusive social tier.

You also see this with regard to sex work policy. There has been a long-running debate with regard to the decriminalization of sex work. But the recently-innovated sloganeering from the professional left is: "Normalize sex work" and "Sex work is work."

So it's understandable why many now feel that this project is less about politics and more about establishing elite cultural fiefdoms within which to signal membership and raise one's status.

I think average left-sympathizing people have a very legitimate bone to pick with the Left's cultural tastemaking overlords. Who knows, if it weren't for them, maybe their book wouldn't have to be called "Bigger than Bernie." Maybe it could have been called "President Bernie."

But again, maybe making this "bigger" than Bernie — ie, a larger cultural "movement" project that goes beyond political outcomes like winning the presidency — is what this is about. And to each their own, but people should be clear-eyed about what and who they are subscribing to.