To Co-opt

Co-opt is a political techinque that gets pretty neglected as a topic in regards to what happens today. It shouldn't be.

Co-opting is generally practiced against opposition groups and is used to disarm them by making them a part of the system and having a stake in its survival and well-being without making fundamental changes. This frequently involves the use of symbols and empty rhetoric or even acting on narrow areas while actively pursuing policies fundamentally harmful to the interests of that group. It can backfire but isn't currently showing much sign of it.

I can point to the GOP easily enough (and get applause around here) and its relationship with the Religious Right, Tea Partiers, and more. Maybe it gets a bit more sticky if I point to the Democrats? Sure, it was well past time to do something about DADT, health insurance (however stinky the results) and it makes liberals feel good but the end results address a tiny percentage of the population ... meanwhile the plutocratic rape of the nation rages on, unabated and screws well over 90% of the populace - unopposed.

This isn't "what have you done for me lately," is about "what haven't you done anything about for the last three decades?"

*I'm not going to hand you a list of links - they're real damn easy to do yourself. You will be pissed.