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But the ones that aren't really ignorant racists are surely more likely to see the error of their ways when their perspectives are dismissed for being the trash they are
Disagree quite strongly here. Abusing them drives them further into the arms of the racists and leads to a bunker mentality - I think that's what we saw with the referendum and what we're seeing with Trumpism in the US.
rather than legitimizing their concerns and trying to bribe them back in.
But on this I agree. I think the left needs to come up with an economic plan that reconciles those who have benefited from globalisation with those who haven't, and that plan needs to rise above this petty obsession with migrant numbers and move the debate away from dogwhistle racism. Properly funding our public services to deal with an aging population is probably an important part of that.
A big part of my problem with the Labour Party right now is that they're doing pitifully little to shift the debate (and, frankly, I don't have much faith in Owen Smith either, but at least he might break the current logjam)
h2o-
Disagree quite strongly here. Abusing them drives them further into the arms of the racists and leads to a bunker mentality - I think that's what we saw with the referendum and what we're seeing with Trumpism in the US.
Absolutely. If you want to win a general election, you need to take people with you and win hearts and minds.
Writing people off is a shortcut to electoral failure and time in the political wilderness.
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It seems everybody agrees (or at least in lip service I don't trust the Tories) wealth needs to be distributed better, but somehow it all ends up being blamed on other things rather than the local gov. [immigrants/EU...]
But it will be higher taxes/less disposable income/working for longer, no matter what. Who wants to stand up and say that knowing they will lose votes? :)
Fox
JWestland
But it also needs to address the racisty bits. That's the hard part.
Just a bit of wordy reflection:
What people seem to be pushing for is engaging with their concerns as legitimate and trying to assuage fears - perhaps even make promises that accept them as legitimate fears. This has been what Labour and the Tories have been doing ("British jobs for British workers"; referendum on Brexit). It has resulted in a shift to the right, and the normalization of people saying shit things and being horrible.
Maybe the left needs to cut its losses and accept that ignorant racists aren't welcome, instead of constantly agonizing over how to win them over/back.
Of course, as has been discussed in the Brexit thread a number of times, not all ignorant racists are really ignorant racists. But the ones that aren't really ignorant racists are surely more likely to see the error of their ways when their perspectives are dismissed for being the trash they are, rather than legitimizing their concerns and trying to bribe them back in.
Essentially, ignore those who've fled to the right (it's unlikely Labour will be able to out-Right Ukip anyway). Work to help everyone (even the racists) by fighting inequality.
(Which, ironically, may be what your point was to begin with, before I forced in the racist-clause).