Politics

Among Resnikoff’s suggestions are left-run community hubs that would host family-centric offerings like free meals for children (something that polls ludicrously well), as well as free childcare programs and social gatherings for adults.

This kind of programming has precedent on the right and left. Resnikoff cites the community-building (and certainly identity-building) work of pro-Trump churches, as well as the Black Panthers’ Free Breakfast for Children program, the latter of which was part of a broader community service program that strengthened local political networks by deploying members into direct service of their neighbors.

In Jacobin last month, Bhaskar Sunkara finds similar precedents in Europe, where social democratic parties have also suffered as their traditional working class bases peel away. Sunkara cites the Workers’ Party of Belgium, which has made electoral inroads by going all-in on programs that immediately support the working class, like providing primary health care services at party-run action centers.

The left needs a recommitment to community because no measure of digital ad spending or get-out-the-vote activism is enough to guarantee a loyal base, let alone electoral victory anymore.