Matt Yglesias has a great post on the progressive movement in America vis a vis the Sinclair affair. It’s something I’ve thought about for a while: the Right Wing in America has always been better organized than the left, but the left has come back in a big way in the past few years. Key quote:
Mass membership organizations like Rotary Clubs and so forth have been on the decline for decades. Perhaps more importantly, so have unions, which were the backbone of the very successful midcentury progressive movement and, in their weakened state, continue to be the backbone of the weakened progressive movement of the late-20th and early 21st century.
On the right, by contrast, you have very viable social networks organized around the churches that white Protestants attend.
This has fascinated me for a while, and the only answer I can give is that the Progressive movment is just a victim of its own success. Think about how successful the labor/progressive movement was from the 1920s through the 1960s. The last 30 years have seen our society backpedal a bit, trying to stabilize. Hence the appeal of the conservative movement.
Now Playing: Episode 366
Obama staffs up, Detroit comes to DC and finally, Iraq and the US come to a security agreement.
Links Mentioned: Iraq SOFA … pros and cons of a bailout.
