Murc's Law

 Murc's Law states that Democrats - and Democrats alone - have control over political events in America. What this means is that every time something bad happens, it's inevitably Democrat's fault. The invasion of Iraq, somehow, becomes Democrats fault, because reasons.

Jon Chait points out a telling example from a leftist author, Samuel Moyn. Moyn basically blames Democrats for Donald Trump. There is the Leninist impulse of "heightening the contradictions" that suggests that things need to get worse in order to prompt the necessary Marxist revolution. In Moyn's telling (at least according to Chait, I'll be damned if I'm reading the book), "Cold War liberals" abandoned efforts to bring about a more egalitarian society because they irrationally feared communism.

First, it was not irrational to fear communism. The Soviet Union sucked. Hard. The waving away of Stalinist atrocities is either historically illiterate or blatantly dishonest. I actually knew a communist from that time period, and he would growl, "In the 1930s you were either a fascist trying to conquer the world or a communist trying to save it." What about Stalin, we asked. "That son of a bitch..." and he would trail off in anger. 

The fundamental problem with communism is that it requires a powerful, unchecked, coercive state to create equality. Equality is great! The measures taken to get there are almost always bad, including collectivized agriculture, which might be the worst idea in human history, with a body count that rivals the last century's wars. All of those problems are waved away by contemporary Marxists.

What Chait focuses on, is the application of Murc's Law. Moyn notes that there have been notable failures of liberalism since 1945. True! However, he fails to note that there is an entire political party that has the loyalty of at least 45% of the electorate that is dedicated to rolling back the tide of liberalism.

What's more, I think we can safely assume that Moyn does not care about the broad basket of concerns known as "social issues." If he did, I'm sure Moyn would point out that Dobbs was actually the Democrats' fault for "letting it happen" as if there were not a multi-decades project to overturn Roe. Additionally, the most prominent advancement in equality in American since 1945 was the civil rights revolution that not only freed Black from the worst abuses of Jim Crow, but led to Second Wave Feminism, the American Indian Movement and LGBTQ rights. This was actively pursued by Democrats. 

The counter-reaction to the Great Society is the basic story of American politics since 1965. From 1932-1968, liberalism was ascendant and dominated American politics. Even Eisenhower had elements of his presidency that could be construed as a continuation of New Deal policies. After the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, the White South broke with the Democratic Party, as did many working class Whites in the North - Reagan Democrats. What followed was the Reagan Revolution that made America fundamentally less equal and concentrated wealth at the top. For Moyn, Reagan's actions are Democrat's fault.

As Matthew Yglesias noted yesterday, White Working Class resentment over the immigration issue isn't exactly about economics. Hispanic workers are not taking factory jobs, because there are no factory jobs to take. The "neoliberal" trade regime that prioritized share holder returns by outsourcing labor costs to places like Mexico and China was, indeed, promulgated by some Democrats like Bill Clinton. But it was driven by Republicans, and every effort by Democrats to claw back some of that industry is met with tooth and nail resistance from Republicans. 

No, the resentment over immigration, which was a large driver in Trump's victory, is mostly cultural. It's about the perception that the southern border is porous (which isn't exactly true, Republicans actually complain about how many people are caught at the border), and that America is losing its identity to a flood of foreigners. The fact that the jobs are already gone just makes it worse.

There have been two major policy achievements passed by Democrats this century: the Affordable Care Act and the economic and climate legislation passed by Biden. All of this has made America a little more equal, though there is still a mountain of work to be done. The fact that Republicans have spent every year since the ACA was passed trying to get rid of it, the fact that Republicans have erased a woman's autonomy over her own body, the fact that wealthy Republicans have signaled that they are OK with Trump's efforts to end American democracy, all of this is just Democrats' fault.

In the end, most leftist political messaging, policies and advice are unhelpful if not actively bad to win elections in America. Democrats have a potent potential message for 2024 surrounding a Republican party that is actively hostile to women and voting rights. In other words, Democrats can seize the mantle of being the party of freedom AND equality.

But if, by 2028, America is not a utopia, then that will be Democrats' fault, I guess.