Why Have Movements Failed?
Social media has transformed protest movements. So, why does it feel like they never succeed?
Social media has transformed protest movements. So, why does it feel like they never succeed?
When you open your phone, you will almost inevitably be confronted with political content. It may be obvious, such as a friend sharing an article, or it may be more subtle, like a podcaster expressing admiration for a politician. The proliferation and discussion of news has been massively decentralized over the last two decades, unchained from the news networks and publications that normally constrained it. This increasingly participatory model of news media has led to an increase in awareness across the political spectrum, but has it resulted in meaningful political action?
On the right, the answer seems to be a resounding "yes". Conspiracy theories and far right sentiments have exploded in the last two decades, pushing each successive election further right. The posts of the White House today are nearly indistinguishable from bigoted 4chan posts, a clear indication that the buttoned up Republicans of the past have been purged by the insurgent far-right wing.
However, on the left the answer seems to be a firm "no". Center-left parties have shifted right out of fear of the far-right, despite numerous ostensibly left wing protest movements: Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, etc. Why is that?
After we talk about the why, we will talk about what we can do about it. Electric Avenues will always try to be a place for positive action, not just wallowing in the misery of our present moment.
Right Wing Parties Listen to the Far-Right
This is perhaps the most obvious reason, and the most disconnected from the normal topic of this page. Since Reagan and Thatcher, western democracies have all embraced the neoliberal political project. The disagreement between center-left and center-right parties mainly comes down to how quickly and how brutally to implement austerity and privatization.
The center-left (correctly) sees the left wing of their coalition as wanting to end the neoliberal project. As such, they undermine them at every chance they can get. Obvious examples of this are the consolidation of candidates behind Joe Biden in 2020 or the smear campaign against Jeremy Corbyn, which his own party later embraced.
By contrast, the center-right is willing to accept the views of their far-right constituents, no matter how heinous. Why? Because bigotry is extremely useful for dividing the working class. The more divided they are the faster you can dismantle the state, privatize essential services, and transfer wealth to the richest among us. The only resistance the center-right has to far-right policies is about optics.
This is why every notable right wing movement in the US in the last two decades has led to major wins, such as the Tea Party and Donald Trump's insurgent candidacy. In the party's eyes, their usefulness outweighs their risk.
Posting Feels like Activism
When we see a piece of news that angers or upsets us, we have a natural urge to want to do something. In past generations, your options for that were relatively limited. You could complain to friends or family. You could write to the paper. You could keep it in mind the next time you vote.
But what about if you're really upset? What could you do then? You could join a political organization. There you would find like minded people who would take concrete actions to push an agenda forward.
Today when we feel that anger, we have another outlet: posting. You can post about that news story, commiserate with like-minded friends, and even get positive reinforcement that you are doing good by "spreading the word".
For many of us, this feels satisfying enough that we never take other political steps.
When a political movement only expresses itself via speech, how much it can accomplish is limited by how much those in power are willing to listen. As we described above, the center-right is willing to listen to the far-right, but center-left is not willing to listen to the "far-left". This creates the one-sided effectiveness dynamic we've lived through.
Social Media Has Weakened Protest Movements
Though posting can be placating, it has also allowed word to spread about political issues and events faster than ever before. This has led to an increase in the number of protests over the last two decades, which would seemingly indicate that the internet has had a positive effect on political organizing.
Unfortunately, this rise in protests has also coincided with a decrease in their effectiveness. Why?
The ease of hearing about and attending a protest may actually undermine the cause itself. Today all that you need for a massive turnout is a viral post and enough public outrage. But this means participants might attend without ever interacting with the organization who arranged it. This disconnect reduces the power and importance of organizations.
This might seem trivial, but these organizations are essential for the success of movements. Organizations do the hard work of converting broad goals into concrete demands, then negotiating with those in power. The core leverage of a protest movement is "we will continue to disrupt business as usual until you agree to our demands".
If those demands are unclear or there is no one to negotiate with, the powers that be will simply wait them out. Worse still, if no organization is strong enough to keep momentum and energy up, they don't even have to wait particularly long.
Hopelessness and Doomerism
It is a topic that likely deserves its own article, but we also must touch on doomerism.
There are many horrible things happening in our world and our minds did not evolve to perceive all of them simultaneously. Despite this, our social media feeds excel at exposing us to all of them in as little time as possible. This overstimulation can easily lead to feelings of hopelessness.
With enough consistent exposure, this hopelessness can entrench itself into a worldview: doomerism. The sense that nothing will ever get better. That all fights are already lost.
Doomerism is poison for political movements. If everyone who understands the world's injustices gives up on it, who will be left to fight?
It is all of our moral imperatives to hold onto our mental health and to foster hope, so that we might contribute to a better world.
We will discuss strategies for this in future articles.
What Can We Do About It?
Luckily, we can all do something about this!
- When you are outraged, seek out concrete, meaningful action. Start with whatever feels doable for you!
- Here's a great list of actions you can take which does not include voting or protesting.
- Join a political organization, ideally a local one that does work in your community. Donations are a great place to start but try to get involved if you are able.
- If your workplace has a union, get involved!
- If you're a progressive or a socialist, the DSA is a great option.
- If you're a young person concerned about the climate, check out the Sunrise Movement.
- Approach your social media diet with intention. Read enough to be informed but be careful to maintain your own mental health. Avoiding hopelessness is important.
- We will dive deeper into this in future articles.
- When you are posting about political topics, check in with yourself. Sharing news can serve an important purpose, but make sure you aren't doing it instead of taking more effective political actions.
This is one of the pieces I had in mind when I started Electric Avenues, but I had intended to build up some momentum before writing it so it could reach more people. However with the current state of the US, it felt important to get it out there.
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