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How to explain to libs in crisis that the US Constitution is antidemocratic (piefed.social)

submitted 3 days ago by the_abecedarian@piefed.social to c/socialism@beehaw.org

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Part of what I see with 50501/Hands Off protests is that they have a theme of "defending the Constitution" from Trump. This is really a somewhat conservative position and doesn't have much historical rigor to it.

Prof. Aziz Rana of Boston College Law School is having a moment on Jacobin Radio right now. His basic thesis is that the Constitutional order is so deeply antidemocratic that the left argued with itself and the liberals over whether to focus efforts on challenging it in the early 20th Century. In the broad sweep of history since then, Americans have come to view the Constitution as a sacred text, but in fact, that order is part of what gives the Republicans and the far right their advantages despite losing the popular vote.

The shorter interview: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html#S250424 (April 24, 2025)
The 4-part long interview: https://thedigradio.com/archive/ (see the Aziz Rana episodes starting in April 2025) - Part 4 isn't up yet.

So why should we venerate the Constitution, when it holds us back from real, direct democracy? I think part of what our liberal friends and family hold onto is a trust in the Constitution and the framers. They weren't geniuses, they were landowners worried about kings taking their property. Use these interviews, or Prof. Rana's book, to handle those arguments.

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[–] manxu@piefed.social 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

You sound like one of those people who stopped caring about the child cages soon as biden was the one doing it.

That's interesting, because unlike so, so many of the people that took on the mantle of the righteous cause of the Palestinians, I've been talking about it since last century. The Palestinians have been mistreated since at least the 80s, and in an ongoing fashion for now 40 years.

Did I hear anyone on the American left complain about it until 2023? Not really. It was really lonely in that camp. It somehow feels that if it hadn't been for TikTok taking up the cause, this would have been another one of those times when Palestine is forgotten.

I am delighted that Palestine has gotten more attention, and I am very hopeful that somehow the situation can be stabilized and improved for a people that has suffered way too much. But not preventing Trump from taking power was honestly a very bad thing to happen for Palestine.

[–] PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I am delighted that Palestine has gotten more attention, and I am very hopeful that somehow the situation can be stabilized and improved for a people that has suffered way too much.

It's fucking harrowing right now. The food is gone. The amount that can come in has been cut to 0, and the aid agencies that were operating inside the country have run out as of this week.

I think May might be the month that everyone dies. That's not an exaggeration. I hope I am wrong.

The best I can hope for, honestly, is that they didn't die in vain and the holocaust beginning for real, combined with the strength of the recent protest movements you talk about, is what finally motivates the international governmental community to act in a big way. None of this "divest." None of this "strongly worded statement." I don't know what it should look like instead, but it is heartbreaking that they want to just stand on the sidelines and watch it all happen. And, maybe with Trump and his dysfunction disabling the US's ability to defend Israel as they usually would, maybe there is a little window of opportunity to make a better life for the people in the West Bank and really hold Israel to account for once.

I am not hopeful, to be honest. But that is all I can see of hope, is that something better will come from it in the long run. Right now it is very, very grim.

[–] manxu@piefed.social 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

What a shit world this has turned into if we let a whole people starve to death.

[–] PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat 3 points 2 days ago

Yeah. Like I say, it is heartbreaking.