Dispatches From the Culture Wars – July 30, 2024

https://portside.org/2024-07-30/dispatches-culture-wars-july-30-2024
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  1. Anti-Harris Leftys Hit a Brick Wall
  2. The Pros and Cons of Protest
  3. Beyoncé vs. Hulk Hogan
  4. Tell the World About Project 2025
  5. Social Cleansing of Paris
  6. Blackboard Battleground
  7. “Oil Kills” Protests Disrupt Airports
  8. Undercover in the Incel Movement
  9. Pay Attention to Leonardo Leo
  10. Jane McAlevey, Hellraiser

Anti-Harris Leftys Hit a Brick Wall

By Angela Yang
NBC News

Some left-leaning social media users were quick to criticize progressives’ willingness to vote for “a cop,” and some pro-Palestinian voters argued that Harris’ foreign policy would be just as intolerable as Biden’s. Soon, however, a slew of TikToks and X posts lambasted the narrative that Harris is on par with former President Donald Trump.

The Pros and Cons of Protest

By Mark Engler and Paul Engler
Waging Nonviolence

Not all disruptive protests are created equal — and not all are equally beneficial in advancing a cause. Some actions can win popular support and help escalate energy within a movement. Others can drive away potential participants, repel sympathizers and invite state repression. Some actions lead to victory, while others trap activists into a cycle of self-isolation and alienation from the wider public.

Beyoncé vs. Hulk Hogan

By Noah Bierman
Los Angeles Times

Professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White lauded Trump’s toughness as they introduced his convention speech. Harris' first official campaign video used the Beyoncé power anthem “Freedom,” which she also plays at campaign events. Harris has put “freedom to make decisions about your own body” at the center of her message.

Tell the World About Project 2025

By Jacob Knutson
Axios

Democrats have warned of the damage that Project 2025 could do to the federal government and access to reproductive care if former President Trump wins in November. The Heritage Foundation-backed plan would do far more than that. Its 900-page wishlist could reshape daily life for millions of Americans if some of its less publicized recommendations are adopted.

Social Cleansing of Paris

By Daniel McArdle
Waging Nonviolence

With the approach of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, organizers and aid groups are working to ensure the continuation of social services in the city. They are also trying to stop the evictions of over 12,500 of the city’s most vulnerable people, who often face the destruction of their dwellings, belongings and documents. 

Blackboard Battleground

“Oil Kills” Protests Disrupt Airports

By Steve Topple
The Canary

Cars arriving at Montreal Airport were disrupted on Wednesday 24 July, as supporters of Last Generation Canada joined US and European groups taking nonviolent action with Oil Kills – the International Uprising to end oil, gas and coal by 2030. This came after seven groups caused disruption at airports across Europe earlier in the day.

Undercover in the Incel Movement

By Sian Norris
openDemocracy

Incel stands for involuntary celibates: a group of men and boys who feel sexually rejected by women and who are very angry about it. The subcultures’ violent fantasies have spilled out into real-life terror, with extremists driving vans into cafes, shooting men and women in California, murdering Asian sex workers in massage parlours, and stabbing people to death in Plymouth, UK.

Pay Attention to Leonardo Leo

By Dennis Aftergut
Salon

The extremist justices are seizing a moment that Leo has prepared them for – a moment to put back in the tube a forward looking, equal opportunity America where church and state are separate. Within their grasp is a presidential dictatorship by which they can realize the rightwing, religious future-state that they perceive as the natural law of the universe.

Jane McAlevey, Hellraiser

By Sarah Jaffe
The Baffler

Jane made a calculated gamble a decade and a half ago, believing that sharing her experience in the labor movement, her triumphs and mistakes, her fights and feuds, would be worth something to thousands of people who had no idea what the world of an organizer was like. She was right.


Source URL: https://portside.org/2024-07-30/dispatches-culture-wars-july-30-2024