Thread by @1JoshGreenberg

THREAD

HOW WE GOT HERE: PART I—INTRODUCTION: TRIBALISM MEETS A CONFLICT LONG IN THE MAKING

This thread contains excerpts from Part I of “How We Got Here.” This part provides an overview of the work and describes my approach to the matters at hand.

1/15

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“As I write these words, forces of evil are committing heinous crimes and appear to be preparing an organized, murderous assault on our country.”

2/15

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“Even though a majority of Americans voted against the white supremacist candidate in 2016, how have we reached a point where hate is openly expressed and becomes more extreme by the day?”

3/15

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“The main point is that we must understand the deeper origins of Trump's base if we wish to untangle our sociopolitical crisis.”

4/15

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“For the purposes of this treatise, before looking in-depth at many of the long-term causes, I will first turn inward—by examining how those of us resisting Trump could have done better.”

5/15

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“By learning from the mistakes of this period, we have the power to alter our strategic decisions moving forward, significantly influencing the outcome of the current crisis.”

6/15

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“Specifically, this treatise begins with the social rift that has developed between urban and rural America.”

7/15

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“Our country has never truly grappled with this divide, instead feeding a longstanding denialism and classism toward members of Trump's base—even though they have legitimate grievances rooted in socioeconomic decline.”

8/15

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“As we have failed to provide Trump supporters with any positive alternatives, including economic justice, our nation has continued to fracture, and the grievances of Trump supporters have begun to turn to conspiracy theory and extremist hate.”

9/15

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“Overlaid on our social divisions, the progressive movement has made strategic, tribalistic missteps in a drive toward moral purity that has often suffered from an excessive focus on identity.”

10/15

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“In our pursuit of justice, we have lost sight of the equally important pursuit of unity. These two priorities need not trade off with one another—for it is possible to pursue a unifying justice.”

11/15

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“Now, as our nation has become lost in identity politics at the expense of unity, we have allowed a demagogue to pit multiple marginalized groups against one another, even though these groups should have shared significant common cause.”

12/15

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“As our country may now be on the path to a mass, race-based atrocity—which is fundamentally what makes the current crisis so morally emergent—I must also note how the arguments herein relate to our centuries-old streak of racial injustice.”

13/15

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“Despite this ugly history, there is no inevitability in the path to war and possible atrocity. Nothing dictates that short-term causes must conspire with our country’s longstanding racism to produce human catastrophe.”

14/15

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“As I write on this subject, my aim is to adopt a humanistic approach. Therefore, my central concern is with the human experience, regardless of whether the particulars of any given human experience or human conviction are ‘morally justified.’”

15/15

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PS1

https://twitter.com/1JoshGreenberg/status/1313296081489260544