Tomorrow, you’re all going to wake up and do the exact same thing. Check the headlines. React leftily. Complain into the void for a minute. Then log into social media and start dodging, blocking every right-wing group pumping out daily content. Nonstop memes, anti-COVID hot takes, “lefty tears” nonsense, trans jokes, Joe Rogan clips, cancel culture rants, just a constant churn of engagement bait, and it works.
You’ll bounce between platforms, curating a safe feed. Facebook’s a mess, Reddit’s fucked, Lemmy’s a small last stand. You read this week’s posts of the moment while barely remembering the four that got quietly dropped last month. You gasp at what the right is getting away with again.
But do nothing. No counter-content. No message discipline. You won’t organize, and you won’t create. Meanwhile, the right is expanding their media machine building, posting, podcasting, meme-ing, shaping narratives for millions.
Then it’s off to work, where your coworkers are proudly sharing the same memes you tried to scrub from your timeline this morning. And when it’s all said and done? You’ll go to bed, wake up, and do it again the next day.
You guys can get snippy and down vote or come at me to try to win some dumb online argument. None of it changes that this will continue until you all get lucky again and the Republicans lose because they fuck something up. You’ll win from no effort from any of you on the left. It’ll be from the right being assholes and going too far.
Inconsistent Messaging and Fractured Priorities
The left has often struggled to unify around a core set of policies, instead fragmenting into sub-movements each demanding top billing. While the right typically rallies around a few clear, emotionally resonant issues—border security, inflation, and national identity—the left has attempted to juggle climate, gender rights, labor protections, health care reform, racial equity, tech regulation, and more, all at once. This scattershot approach makes it harder to present a cohesive message that resonates with average voters, who are often just looking for straightforward answers to everyday problems.
Elitism Perception and Cultural Disconnect
The left is increasingly viewed—rightly or wrongly—as a movement dominated by urban, college-educated elites. As a result, there’s a growing disconnect between progressive leadership and working-class or rural voters. Language around “lived experience,” “privilege,” and “decolonization” may make sense in academic or activist circles, but can alienate voters who feel those terms don’t reflect their daily struggles with job security, rising costs, or healthcare access. This cultural gap is frequently exploited by conservative media to portray the left as out-of-touch.
The Right’s Dominance in Content and Narrative Warfare
Conservative groups have become adept at creating and distributing viral content on social media, often using humor, outrage, or conspiratorial undertones to gain traction. The left has largely failed to counter this momentum with equally engaging, persuasive media. Many progressive messages come off as moralizing or scolding rather than compelling or emotionally resonant. Without an effective media apparatus to shape the narrative, the left often finds itself reacting to right-wing provocations rather than setting the agenda.
Overreliance on Institutions That Are Losing Trust
The left tends to align itself with expert consensus, legacy media, academia, and federal agencies. However, public trust in these institutions has been steadily eroding. As skepticism grows—fueled by economic disillusionment, pandemic fatigue, and high-profile failures—the left’s instinct to defer to authority is increasingly seen as naïve or dismissive of public sentiment. This allows right-wing movements to present themselves as populist truth-tellers, even when promoting factually dubious claims.
Backlash to Progressive Social Policy
While many Americans support basic civil rights protections, the speed and tone of progressive social reforms—particularly around race, gender, and identity—has triggered backlash among more moderate and traditional voters. This is not necessarily because people are bigoted, but because they feel overwhelmed, excluded from the conversation, or resentful of being portrayed as oppressors. When debates over language and inclusivity dominate headlines, they can drown out material policy wins the left may have achieved, such as infrastructure spending or student debt relief.
Ground Game and Local Influence Neglect
The left has invested heavily in national campaigns, celebrity endorsements, and large-scale online mobilization, but often ignores down-ballot races and local organizing. Meanwhile, conservatives have spent decades quietly building influence in school boards, city councils, and judicial appointments. This strategic imbalance gives the right structural advantages, allowing them to shape policy and public discourse from the ground up—even in areas where they’re not the majority politically.
Tbh, you aren’t wrong. I still keep getting anti-COVID memes and stuff from the lockdowns that’s kept alive by the out-of-touch rightwing clowns in my extended family. They keep all that stuff alive even though it’s been 4 years now and nobody remembers what it felt like.
I have a guy that still hangs banners on the highways overpass. I see at least 5 stickers on bumpers every time I leave the house. It’s crazy.
And when you bring this stuff up to people on the left, they’re more interested in winning online arguments then addressing these issues and admitting we have a problem of being way behind the times.
The left really does encompass this academic mentality of losers sitting away in towers pouring over books thinking they’re the smartest and the best while everyone else is outside getting shit done. I’m just so tired of people on the left telling me how dumb the people on the right are, while the people on the right are winning in almost every arena. I’m so fucking tired of seeing thousands show up to protests while nobody is actually making content online or standing on bridges of whatever the fucking equivalent on our side would be. We’re all so ineffective.
I mean, come on. Can you honestly say I’m wrong?
Tomorrow, you’re all going to wake up and do the exact same thing. Check the headlines. React leftily. Complain into the void for a minute. Then log into social media and start dodging, blocking every right-wing group pumping out daily content. Nonstop memes, anti-COVID hot takes, “lefty tears” nonsense, trans jokes, Joe Rogan clips, cancel culture rants, just a constant churn of engagement bait, and it works.
You’ll bounce between platforms, curating a safe feed. Facebook’s a mess, Reddit’s fucked, Lemmy’s a small last stand. You read this week’s posts of the moment while barely remembering the four that got quietly dropped last month. You gasp at what the right is getting away with again.
But do nothing. No counter-content. No message discipline. You won’t organize, and you won’t create. Meanwhile, the right is expanding their media machine building, posting, podcasting, meme-ing, shaping narratives for millions.
Then it’s off to work, where your coworkers are proudly sharing the same memes you tried to scrub from your timeline this morning. And when it’s all said and done? You’ll go to bed, wake up, and do it again the next day.
You guys can get snippy and down vote or come at me to try to win some dumb online argument. None of it changes that this will continue until you all get lucky again and the Republicans lose because they fuck something up. You’ll win from no effort from any of you on the left. It’ll be from the right being assholes and going too far.
Removed by mod
How many more this time? Are you winning yet?
Removed by mod
https://lemmy.world/comment/17413559
You all quit before you even get started. Just knee capping yourselves every chance. As a group, you’re all fucked
Tbh, you aren’t wrong. I still keep getting anti-COVID memes and stuff from the lockdowns that’s kept alive by the out-of-touch rightwing clowns in my extended family. They keep all that stuff alive even though it’s been 4 years now and nobody remembers what it felt like.
I have a guy that still hangs banners on the highways overpass. I see at least 5 stickers on bumpers every time I leave the house. It’s crazy.
And when you bring this stuff up to people on the left, they’re more interested in winning online arguments then addressing these issues and admitting we have a problem of being way behind the times.
The left really does encompass this academic mentality of losers sitting away in towers pouring over books thinking they’re the smartest and the best while everyone else is outside getting shit done. I’m just so tired of people on the left telling me how dumb the people on the right are, while the people on the right are winning in almost every arena. I’m so fucking tired of seeing thousands show up to protests while nobody is actually making content online or standing on bridges of whatever the fucking equivalent on our side would be. We’re all so ineffective.