The American people long could retain power in numbers. Through workers’ unions, social movements, and protests. The overall culture in America since its founding has been that there is power in numbers. But as the ruling class continues to divide the American people through things like race, gender, and political affiliation… the people lose their power, their solidarity, and their voice.
1. Political Polarization
When the media focuses on the loudest of us, it is difficult to know what the quiet thinks. Each end of the political spectrum has extremists, we all know about these because of news outlets, social media posts, and from living among them. But these voices which represent the extreme views of each party cannot be an adequate representation of the more moderate voices.
2. Campaigning
Super PACs allow billionaires to pour unlimited amounts into campaigns, drowning out the voices of ordinary Americans. Dark money groups mask the identities of their donors, preventing voters from knowing who’s trying to influence them. And races for a congressional seat regularly attract tens of millions in spending.
3. Gerrymandering
Manipulating electoral boundaries to favor one political party, diluting the voting power of certain groups, and splitting groups of people with similar characteristics, such as voters of the same party affiliation, across multiple districts. With their voting strength divided, these groups struggle to elect their preferred candidates in any of the districts. Map drawers can also cram certain groups of voters into as few districts as possible. In these districts, groups are likely to elect their preferred candidates, but the groups’ voting strength is weakened everywhere else.
4. Social Censoring
“This is one of those things where the domestic politics has become so upside down and crazy that it turns out there’s only upside for Trump now,” said Bill Bishop, a China expert who has been closely following the back-and-forth. From Elon Musk owning “X”, to Mark Zuckerberg with Instagram, Facebook, etc. And President Donald Trump working closely with TikTok, It is hard not to see the monopoly over communication platforms becoming more and more one-sided. Censorship and biased reporting for fear of censorship can narrow the amount of perspective the people are given.
5. Voter turnout
When a significant portion of the population does not vote, it can weaken the overall representation of public opinion. In recent years, a growing cynicism has begun to form a large cloud over the attitudes toward voting. In the months before the most recent election, only about a quarter believed the country’s best days were ahead. The cynicism was shared by people on the left and the right, as well as those in the middle, by those who are highly engaged politically and those who are not—more on the referenced study.
Losing your power can cause many cynical beliefs to spawn. “Why even vote?” “Why learn about who’s running for governor?”… But that’s exactly why we should. Regaining power in as many places as possible is the way to counter the loss of it. In a time of tricks and propaganda and feelings of powerlessness, now is not the time to throw up our hands and say we tried, rather regroup, band together, and make the change we want to see. There is no light without darkness, let us find the light.
(Number 4) … Continued … Continued
