100% it all feels very transactional and extractive of labor and energy at the expense of our health and financial stability. So many of my colleagues have left the field all together and dysfunction in campaigns is seen as normal. The amount of free labor Im asked for is debilitating and the hallow messaging without actual movement work should not be what’s funded. People know when an effort is more of the same and not transformational. The trauma is real.
I would add that the on-ramp is nonexistent not just for working class kids, but anyone who doesn't have the specific personality and energy levels required for campaign work.
And because campaigns are basically the only entry point to working in Democratic politics, the leadership pipeline by definition excludes those who can't or don't want to do campaign work. Come to think of it, that's probably part of why the party's work remains so stubbornly cycle/campaign based... the people who might have come up with a different approach aren't even at the table.
100% it all feels very transactional and extractive of labor and energy at the expense of our health and financial stability. So many of my colleagues have left the field all together and dysfunction in campaigns is seen as normal. The amount of free labor Im asked for is debilitating and the hallow messaging without actual movement work should not be what’s funded. People know when an effort is more of the same and not transformational. The trauma is real.
This is spot-on!
I would add that the on-ramp is nonexistent not just for working class kids, but anyone who doesn't have the specific personality and energy levels required for campaign work.
And because campaigns are basically the only entry point to working in Democratic politics, the leadership pipeline by definition excludes those who can't or don't want to do campaign work. Come to think of it, that's probably part of why the party's work remains so stubbornly cycle/campaign based... the people who might have come up with a different approach aren't even at the table.