A Way Forward For Progressive America

We don't vote our self interests, we vote our values. That is why social issues consistently outweigh economic ones in our political process. Red state America votes according to a predominantly white Christian worldview that values the reimposition of 1950s cultural norms over their own economic security. This powerful intellectual framework, which has been politically weaponized over the past forty years, combined with gerrymandering and voter suppression, is why this minority group will likely dominate the progressive majority at the ballot box for the foreseeable future. Blue America has nothing comparable...yet.

However, true political power doesn't lie solely in voting any more (if it ever did). It lies in influencing legislation, which has become largely detached from the democratic process (i.e. An overwhelming majority loudly objected to the AHCA, but it passed a majority in the House as it serves the economic interests of their benefactors). Legislation is largely not determined or even influenced by the people, but by politicians on both sides of the aisle who are increasingly beholden to corporations and the wealthy. Politicians will occasionally toss a socially regressive legislative bone to their red base, but only if it is economically advantageous or at least poses no threat to the interests of their lobbyists.

That being said, what is the one advantage that blue state/blue county America has going for it? Economic power. We drive a disproportionate amount of US business. Yet despite our broad, robust and diverse economies, we have rarely flexed our economic muscle to force progressive change.

We, of course, need a clear consistent progressive worldview, but one backed by an economic cudgel to beat back red America's political advance.

So what do I propose? A program that leverages economic tension to force progressive action. For example, we could push state governments to create a registry of red state products side by side with their blue state/international alternatives and encourage people and businesses to "Buy Blue" or buy international-the latter a nod to our commitment to a global economy. If red states reciprocated, so what? You can guess who would win that game of brinksmanship. And the wealthy lobbyists who pull the political strings will definitely take notice.

More tricky and perhaps long-term would be to starve Red America of blue state goods without hurting ourselves. Perhaps working with blue state legislatures we could build a system of incentives to redirect the sale of blue state goods to international markets (camouflaged as an effort to close international trade deficits). So instead of selling blue state manufactured goods or agricultural produce to red states, we'd sell them overseas. Again, if red states reciprocated, they are at a disadvantage as many of their economies are heavily weighted towards commodities such as oil, mining, and grain production whose sale cannot be geographically limited.

The overall intent would not be to permanently damage our national economy, but to bring legislators to the bargaining table and force our country back to the middle. A threatened 1% hit to GDP would be an effective wake up call.