Stop pretending Seattle is a progressive oasis

There is entitlement within leftist circles. Liberals and Democrats have convinced themselves of a fantasy, that cities, Seattle in this case, are the left’s refuge.
We have convinced ourselves with faulty voting patterns. Take Seattle, where democrats point at Kamala Harris’s large margin of victory, despite only 15% of the entirety of King County voting, which is about one in seven.
We willfully ignore larger trends, like younger men’s dramatic shift to the right, threatening the possibility where the left loses the young, the one demographic that they can reliably count on.
We have blinded ourselves, thinking the possibility of reactionary takeover impossible in an urban area, so we have ignored all signs and indicators as blips or exceptions.
Even in Ballard, there is an increasing number of young men who are leaning right, and increasingly proud to be vocal of that feeling. And even those who aren’t necessarily right wing, will still make the occasional jab at the gay community or minorities.
A “progressive city” would not have to make its mayor speak on rising anti Islamic hate crimes. A “progressive city” does not have all crime except hate driven drop.

Sustained success has made the leftist lazy. Liberal activism no longer seeks to educate or support, but instead pushes lip service to those they have sworn to defend with land acknowledgments and Student Unions with little attendance.
There is a sense of lukewarm liberalism in Seattle and cities as a whole. As liberalism is seen as the default, it’s thought that its job is complete, no work to be done.
And this makes sense, when you confront the obvious that Seattle, Ballard especially, is incredibly white. 70% of Seattle is white according to 2022 census data. When you are white, especially a man, there is a privilege to not care. There isn’t a care about police brutality, private prisons, or your history being restricted from the classroom.
The Climate crisis? Maybe, but since it will affect the poorest populations the most, and since you are white and in Seattle, you are likely not in that category, meaning your care is limited.
And white Gen Z men are no different.
Gen Z men have proven to be very easily manipulated. Spearheaded by online figures like Joe Rogan and Andrew Tate, young men, who have been largely ignored by the left, have been taken in by the right. Possibly already the most insecure generation of all time due to social media, they are told that their masculinity is being stripped from them, and that the left is making them weak.
The Survey Center of American Life has polled that over 30% of men 18-29 identify as conservative whereas only 24% do as liberal. While the majority still write in as a moderate, it’s accepted that a moderate is a closet conservative.
But instead of addressing this, the left has ignored, laughed at them, and allowed for these young men to be indoctrinated by right wing circles.

The left must, and hopefully has been by this election, wake up to realize that their success is not guaranteed. Continued laziness and acceptance of the status quo has shown its results. Democrats couldn’t win a single swing state against a convicted rapist, they couldn’t even win the popular vote, so how can we possibly say we are prepared for the future?
And even in defeat, leftists are still scared of voicing for real change. Another privilege of the white liberal, is compromise.
Why should the left compromise? If you are Black, Latino, Transgender, why should you compromise with a group that calls you violent thugs, pedophiles, or rapists? Why should the left bend their ideology to appeal to those who openly call them evil?
The left has been handicapped by this past notion that politics should be respectful, something the right has no problem ignoring.
Compromise, and “finding common ground” are the beliefs of someone in power. Has anything ever come from compromise? Was segregation ended by compromise? Was gay marriage legalized from reaching across the isle? Were unions formed by appealing to Iron barons?
The answer is no. A pillar of leftist inaction is fear of enacting real change, concerning the reaction of the right, even though they will hate leftists no matter if they do anything at all or not.
It is not 2008, candidates do not speak well about their opponents, shake their hands, and defend against polarization. The right has ignited a cultural revolution, in making politics fun, by not pushing for ideals, but on the hatred of the left.
Democrats have to accept this current truth: It’s fun to be a conservative, it’s not fun to be a liberal.
The Trump campaign was not won on policies, but pure disdain of the left. Democrats were unable to defend against a campaign that focused on making Americans hate the left, not support the right.
You can argue all day about whether you think this is right or good, but you have to accept that this is modern politics. The left has to adapt or die. If we want to prevent further losses, the left has to be ok with being extreme. Americans don’t want bipartisanship, they want strong rule.
If the Left wants a future in America, we have to stop pandering, and realize we are under attack, even in once our strongest holdouts, like Seattle, like Ballard.