Problems of a huge ‘Squad’
Is a huge ‚ Squad ‘ even desirable? Read my thoughts about the problems that come with every additional progressive in Congress.
When progressive elected officials are confronted over their continuous inactivity, it remains a popular excuse that there are not enough of them yet to do something substantial. Not only is this excuse weak on its face considering that there are already enough of them to block any bill the Biden Administration proposes; the often proposed long-term ‘strategy’ to vote many more progressives into Congress also comes at high costs which are barely ever mentioned. I want to bring attention to the problems a huge amount of crowd-funded ‘Squad’ would bring. Not only will it take forever, but there are problems awaiting when the goal is finally reached.
1. Finances
The people can’t financially sustain 200 or more progressive legislators on the federal level (plus more on the state level). People who are primarily represented by progressives are often in dire straits. They might have 20 bucks left to give to AOC and Rashida Tlaib, but most of them can’t pull $4,000 out of their pockets to contribute to 200 campaigns. Not saying this financial problem can’t be solved somehow, but it strikes me as a problem worth thinking about. Note that the establishment efforts to stop progressives will grow with the Squad’s power. Corporations will invest more and more money to squish progressive campaigns when they think they could become actual threats.
2. Infighting
Where I am from, we have a functional left-wing party on the federal level (yay). However, they are not free of infighting. Intrigues and betrayal of colleagues in an attempt to rise to the top is just as common there as it is in any other party (or business). Leftists are not better than others when it comes to this; especially not politicians who often have an inherent need for power and attention. Tough cookies, I know. If there are 60 or 80 progressives elected the funny times will likely be over. One is enough to create a toxic environment, and they all want to be the top dog. It will become dirty behind the scenes, and only a fraction of this dirt will leak into public knowledge. How and to what degree this infighting will harm the left’s political agenda seems impossible to predict without a crystal ball at hand. But it will come; maybe already next year. Nina Turner will likely seek to replace AOC as the spearhead of progressives.
3. Infiltrators, traitors, grifters
Apart from the power-grabbing games a huge Squad would inevitably come with prepare for some bad faith actors/grifter within the group. Some candidates will just hop on the socialist hype train to enrich themselves. Some will have absolutely no interest in implementing policies. Maybe there is already such a person who holds back other Justice Dems on purpose, maybe not. I don’t know. What I do know is that the chance of such people sneaking their way into the ‘Squad’ grows with every additional member. It is likely that some of them will end up accepting corporate donations and therey by completely abandon a key cause of the original Justice Dems.
4. What’s the point if they lack the courage?
Nancy Pelosi is not the final boss of progressives. She is a mini-boss at best, a lacky of the richest. Why exactly would one assume the Squad will take on the top 0.001% who control the media directly if they are too afraid to take on the democratic establishment? The intimidation will not end and neither will the risk of getting devastating negative press coverage when pushing for progressive policies. It’s better to get used to it now and learn how to deal with it. One must learn to pick a fight with the more powerful. It doesn’t come naturally by itself. It’s a skill that needs to be acquired and trained like any other. And so far, all chances to test the waters and take on the corrupt leadership were not taken.
Overall, the idea that a huge Squad can be the solution while a small one (which is right now very powerful!) cannot is ridiculous. In my opinion, the time to fight is now (and almost over) and not when AOC and the rest feels mentally prepared at some arbitrary point in the future. Keep in mind that one motivated progressive would be enough to start the fight; it does not take a group effort. The fact that it is not happening now leaves little hope for the future.
