I've long been an advocate for a big tent approach. I don't have to agree with someone on everything to appreciate them for fighting the good fight, or trust them to have my back. At the demonstrations I've been to, I've seen people of many different political persuasions, and I'm proud to call them my allies. As far as I'm concerned, everyone from Bernie Sanders to Adam Kinzinger is my friend, at least until we manage to correct course.
That being said, there are some people we shouldn't let into our movement. We need to have standards. For starters, we don't need people who are anti-Trump not because he's authoritarian, but because he's not the right kind of authoritarian. We don't need tankies who are only against the Trump regime because its jackboots happen to be a color other than red. If Trump were to pay lip service to following the teachings of Karl Marx, I'm sure many of these people would suddenly go around wearing MAGA hats ("He was always one of us! Why else would his hats be red?"). The American Revolution is notable for the fact that it didn't replace one form of tyranny with another. Let's not make the mistake the Founders avoided.
We should also avoid dealing with the truly hateful. I'm sure there are some Archie Bunker types out there whose prejudices stem from ignorance rather than genuine malice, and who might change for the better with experience. Those people I might (and I must emphasize "might") be willing to work with, though if their views don't evolve, don't expect me to stay in contact with them. But for those who actively hate people just because they're different? No dice. I'm not going to work with people who oppose Trump for bigoted reasons, such as anti-Semites who hate Trump because they think he's a puppet of some sinister Jewish conspiracy. Nor am I going to work with people who voted for Trump because they wanted him to hurt groups of people they didn't like and have only started turning against him now because the leopards are feasting on their faces, such as TERFs who liked Trump's anti-trans stances and are only moving against him now because of how he's hurting the female gender. Now, if they sincerely renounce these hateful views, admit that they were wrong, and make an effort to change for the better? That makes things different. But the onus is on them to make that change. And if someone won't work with us to oust Trump because they hate some other group we're fighting for, they probably weren't worth trying to recruit to begin with. There are countless people from all over the political spectrum who don't have these prejudices, so why should we pander to the hateful bigots?
We should also be wary of people for other reasons. Some are just too out of touch with reality to be relied upon. Others are too difficult to work with. Still others are just plain terrible people. I've seen everyone from movement conservatives to anarcho-syndicalists at these demonstrations, and I welcome them if they act in good faith; we can work out our disagreements later. But having a tent big enough for everyone doesn't mean letting everyone in.
Originally Posted By u/NoAnt6694 At 2025-04-26 08:15:20 AM | Source
