Big Talk

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a slight variant on a previous post:

my current way of looking at the current political conflict:

1. the pro-democracy coalition versus the Jabba coalition

my acronym for the JABBA coalition: Justice Activism is Bootless & Bad, Actually

The pro-democracy coalition wants a system where everybody counts, and everybody has to account. The Jabba coalition does not need to have a coherent agenda, and can merely take credit for anything good, and avoid blame for anything bad. It also merely needs to point out that the pro-democracy people are hypocrites, who made a mess of things when they were in charge.

the Jabba coalition is diverse, but one thing they have in common is an extreme skepticism, bordering on green-eyed cynicism, towards the various kinds of justice activism: social justice activism, environmental justice activism, gender justice activism, racial justice activism, migrant justice activism, trans justice activism, minority justice activism, etc.

Criticizing justice activists is fine, of course. But the Jabbas, for the most part, do not criticize in good faith. They criticize in order to demoralize and discourage justice activists, and to blur the distinction between justice and injustice.

That attitude of green eyed cynicism is important. One of my favorite movies is Quiz Show, and at one point the Rob Morrow character says "Charlie, if you want to insult me, that's fine, but you can't envy me at the same time." The Jabbas want to have an attitude of contempt towards justice activism, and some of them manage it. But underneath the contempt is envy, a recognition that justice activists have a daily beauty in their life, a conviction in things not seen.

And, of course, the Jabba coalition have found Trump to be an acceptable leader, because they recognize that if you want to get revenge on justice activists, and if you want to vandalize the achievements of justice activism, then Jabba the Trump is your kind of scum.

But enough about the Jabbas! We have been talking too much about them. We need to find time to talk about better things. Victory for the pro-democracy coalition requires:

1. An exciting pro-democracy agenda, which gives people energy, inspiration, enthusiasm, and incentives to organize.

2. Assuaging people's anxieties about liberal or leftist overreach.

3. Assuaging people's anxieties about the dangers of calling out injustice, and the dangers of actively seeking alternatives to injustice.

4. Perhaps, a certain . . . je ne sais quoi.

 

What do I mean by liberal or left? Liberal means having a value for freedom. Left means having a value for equality. A member of the liberal-left is someone who has a value for both freedom and equality.

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Next post: March 1, 2026