Every week we cover on this DSOT email an example of an unrepresentative action taken by the government, often in policy form, that contravenes the general will of the American people. Most of the time we focus on the corrupting influence of donor money choking off communication between constituents and their representatives as the major impediment to achieving a representative democracy, but another important goal of this email is to awaken Americans to the fact that many of the issues they support are, in fact, shared by the majority of the country.
We've often been struck throughout this process with the dichotomy of just how many issues Americans are aligned on, and the simultaneous ignorance from most people that their views are held by the majority. This phenomenon is not separate from the issues of money-in-politics and oligarchic control. The continued ignorance is partly a manifestation of the propaganda efforts by the ruling Elite and corporate media to obfuscate the bleak reality of our unrepresentative and unequal society. It's often easier to act behind the scenes, under a veil of ignorance, than to act blatantly against the will of the people.
A classic example in which Americans consistently underestimate their shared support for government action and intervention is the climate crisis. It’s easy to understand why when just this year we've already seen record heat waves in Texas, and devastating wildfires in Canada. Global temperatures are off the charts for this time of year and there is a massive so-called “marine wildfire” in the Atlantic Ocean where a patch of extremely hot water is causing mass death of sea-life. The situation already feels out of hand and is only accelerating. People feel the climate crisis approaching, they know it is an issue, and they desperately want government action.
We've covered repeatedly that well over 2/3 of Americans support government action on the climate crisis. Yet, a recent study from Yale found that despite two in three Americans believing in the necessity of aggressive climate action, these same individuals thought that only one third of Americans shared this opinion. This information gap of support is why liberal politicians like Joe Biden feel so comfortable and confident betraying their environmental promises to the American people and reactionary politicians can so vociferously fight against climate action. It allows for nefarious actors to divide and isolate the majority, de-fanging them and demobilizing their activity. Without the imprimatur of majority opinion, many people hesitate to fight for their minority held issues, thinking they would be nice to get but not essential in a representative democracy. So, the driving impetus for taking bold, aggressive action is lacking when people don't understand the breadth of support for issues like the climate crisis, or abortion, or raising the minimum wage.
Joining together through recognized solidarity and created community, is one of the key methods through which we organize to create both political and economic blocs that can stand up to the powerful interests seeking to divide an atomize us. Recognition alone is only the first step, but it is a necessary one to galvanize the many in support of representative democracy. So, join us each Tuesday in growing solidarity as we fight for our climate and our country, knowing we fight together as the broad majority taking back our democracy!
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