Vision: Progressives Consider Using Tea Party Tactics to Rebuild the American Dream

This virtue, however, can become a liability when it comes to building a movement. Liberals, progressives and lefties of varying generations rarely agree on what truly constitutes fair-trade coffee, much less how to go about changing the current political climate.

A Park Slope (an upper-middle-class community) resident advocated for an agrarian-based community. Julia, an attorney, wanted a “government that looked after everybody.” Melissa, a young mother and Bed Stuy resident, lamented that we spend millions on war, while the library closes at 5pm. Rosalie, an older woman who later handed me a flier for an upcoming protest, joked that we’ve resorted to a “distorted Calvinist approach [where] those at the top win.” She said we need to focus on “regaining the influence of workers.” Adam, a 20-something who works in marketing and Tammy, a disenchanted Obama campaigner, both agreed. 

The preliminary concerns of the gathering seemed realistic enough, until Julia, the attorney, insisted that we are the Tea Party of the left and suggested we learn from them. Robin, a filmmaker, replied, “The Tea Party is astroturf, it’s funded by corporations.”

A spirited discussion of how to really go about change got underway. With little time to air complaints, one-liners that attempted to sum up ardent focuses and next-step actions were shouted around the room: “Policy, not party politics,” “We need to take over town hall during the August recess," and “Politicians won’t tax the hands that feed them.”

Skip Roseboro attempted to rein in the focus and talked a bit about his ideologies. “The most important thing to remember is that we are presented with two choices, both of which are negative--there’s always a third choice.” He’s referring to an often used introduction to third-party politics promoted by Working Families Party (where he’s a board member). He offered his own suggestion to change and to establish “a framework to fight back,” where we disagree indoors and present a united front outdoors.