Ari Berman: What Are the Structural Barriers to Progressive Success?

Ari Berman: What Are the Structural Barriers to Progressive Success?

Ari Berman: What Are the Structural Barriers to Progressive Success?

How can progressives push government to be of, by and for the people, rather than for the privileged few?

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

It is no coincidence that many Americans are dissatisfied the minute their Congress members move to Washington and forget all about the constituents back home. There is no common personality flaw that causes politicians to abandon progressive ideals in favor of money politics. However, they are all trapped in the same broken political system.

So how can progressives push government to be of, by and for the people, rather than for the privileged few? The Nation‘s Ari Berman joined Darcy Burner of Progressive Congress and David Waldman of Daily Kos yesterday at Netroots Nation 2011 to discuss money in politics and ways to break down the structural barriers to progressive success.

Anna Lekas Miller

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x