1. I find that liberals dislike talking about virtue, probably because talking about virtue, in a context including conservatives, makes them sound conservative.
2. I think we should get over that. For one thing, conservatism depends on liberalism. The former can’t exist without the latter, because without liberalism, conservatism isn’t conservative anymore—it’s just straight up fascism.
3. For another, liberalism isn’t only about a proactive government playing a legitimate role in our lives. It isn’t only about good-faith evidence-based solutions to complex problems. It isn’t only about the maximization of personal liberty.
4. Liberalism is a set of virtues about citizenship, the common good and mutual obligation. foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsul…
5. It’s about doing the right thing.
6. You may have noticed a pattern. The weaker liberalism has become politically, socially, and institutionally, the more conservatism has looked like, and has become, straight up fascism. Yes, part of that stems from a system that’s rigged.
7. The Senate is anti-democratic. Congressional districts are gerrymandered. Voting laws are increasingly restrictive. (And liberals have played a role in all this, especially with respect to a globalized economy.)
8. But part of fascism’s rise also stems from a lack of conviction.
9. It’s entirely understandable that many people have lost faith in government given the fact that so much of government is designed to favor the rich, powerful and well-connected.
10. It’s especially understandable for minorities to see any form of government as an agent of evil, and want nothing to do with it. But losing faith in government is not the same as losing faith in doing the right thing. I’m talking about voting.
11. Why do we do the right thing? Is it because we are hoping for a material reward? Sometimes it is. But most of the time, there is no reward--none other than having done the right thing.
12. I believe liberalism, as set of beliefs about good citizenship, the common welfare and mutual obligation--about what we want to be as a society and nation--demands we do the right thing even if doing the right thing has no reward.
13. Voting is the right thing.
14. In Georgia, the secretary of state is running for governor. He’s also the official in charge of the voter rolls. He’s a Republican running against a dynamic Democrat who is a black woman. Citizens getting purged from voter rolls are overwhelmingly African American.
15. That has a lot of black voters in Georgia believing their votes won’t count. So they are not planning to vote, according to this report from the Daily Beast. thedailybeast.com/black-voters-i…
16. The controversy is complex. Many black voters can still vote. They just have to present the right ID. But from this nuance has arisen a belief that voting doesn’t matter. Voting does matter. It matters even if your vote isn’t counted.
17. It matters, because voting is the right thing to do. It matters, because voting is liberal virtue in action. It is what you do when you believe in the duties of citizenship, the common good and everyone’s moral and political obligation to everyone else.
17. I know this sounds academic. What difference does it make if my vote isn’t counted? The difference is a matter of conviction, of the courage needed to face what’s coming.
18. Odds are good that the Democrats will take control of the House in November. But probability isn’t the same thing as certainty. nytimes.com/2018/10/19/opi…
19. There is still a chance the Republicans will keep the House, along with the Senate and the White House. If that happens, the next two years will make the last two years look like a cakewalk by comparison.
20. Think about it. If the Republicans control of all branches of government, the president will almost certainly fire Robert Mueller, kill off Obamacare, cut taxes on the rich even more, devastate the lives of immigrants even more, and otherwise rule with total impunity.
21. The president is talking right now about a military confrontation against thousands of immigrants at the border. It’s not hard to imagine him ordering the military to shoot immigrants on sight.
22. Worse, the GOP will have no incentive to change, creating conditions that will endure for years and years.
23. If that happens, what are you going to do? Throw up your hands and say, my vote wasn’t counted so what can I do?
24. No. It takes more than voting to realize a country deserving to be called a republic. It takes believing in democracy even when it seems out of reach, out of sight, and unworthy of the effort. It takes virtue, liberal virtue.
25. Thanks for reading this thread. Subscribe to read more about @HelenaRosenblat's new book called The Lost History of Liberalism. stoehr.substack.com/p/voting-and-t…
