**the following is a guest post of a good friend and former college classmate/theatermate of mine. He and I are furious and angry about the recently-revealed decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade and are in the process of planning what next steps are necessary**
In my first semester of law school, I
recall a professor telling our class that the law was not like the
social sciences, and that, "when you win, you're right."
That perspective currently guides my approach to the practice of law
and quite a bit more. That perspective was right when I first learned
it six years ago; it is still right, even as it seems likely the
Supreme Court will overturn Roe.
There are two ways to approach the proposed decision in Dobbs if you disagree with it. First, you could accept despair, throw your hands in the air, and wonder where everything went wrong. You can point fingers at every single person, place, thing, concept, or group that you believe failed to protect a most fundamental right. You can even blame yourself for not doing enough. You can stew in that self-loathing for so very long, because the water is always warm.
Second, you can decide that you need to win so badly that you re-evaluate why you are wrong. You accept the fundamental truth that, “when you win, you’re right.” You recognize you are wrong, because wrongness stems from losing. You can then recalibrate; what does it take to win? That question has objective answers; many people would rather keep losing because it is comfortable and familiar. To those who sneer at voting "blue no matter who"; stow it. What does moral purity get us aside from encroaching fascism? Do you talk to people outside your political bubble? Do you try to meet people where they are, and do the hard work to convince them that what you're offering is good? Do you learn what people actually want and learn how to give it to them? Have you considered that participating in a broken system might be better than abandoning it, because the effect of abandoning the system is the same as abandoning the people in it? Do you start worker cooperatives, or start a business so that you and yours can control your fate? Have you and your friends gone out to the woods to practice training exercises and solidarity like militias do, or gone into urban environments to build networks and spread your message? Have you tempered your messaging to be less inflammatory? You can do big things while speaking quietly.
To those who blame the left in this country for this situation and think that there is some virtue in reflexive moderation; you run the country whenever the Democrats win. Your track record is not great. Have you considered that all of your condemnations of Republicans' procedural abuses are fundamentally misplaced, as the Republicans are showing you how to succeed in today’s environment? Have you considered their behavior might be inspirational, because they are willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish their objectives? Have you considered that unflinching loyalty to decorum and tradition is a hindrance to providing for the welfare of the public? Have you considered that your high-minded principles are asymmetric to adversaries who seem intent on eroding our democracy? Unfortunately, your governments have not shown the ability to protect democracy nor address the needs of the public. Half measures cannot solve whole problems.
Everything written above also applies to me. I know I have not done enough to fight fascism here or abroad. I had every opportunity to do so, and I took too few of them. We all have been contributors to this reality, and for far longer than many of us are willing to admit. Collectively, we have gotten so used to failure, so used to losing, that we have learned despair. Despair will not help us now, just as it has not helped anyone else at any other time.
Instead, let us learn something more valuable. Let us learn how to win. Once we learn how to win, we can win. Once we win, we get to say what's right. When we get to say what’s right, it becomes easier to win again. The reason why "when you win, you're right" is inspirational is because it recognizes the necessity of something else separate and apart from right and wrong. Goodness is not rightness, nor badness wrongness. Neither goodness nor badness themselves determine our ability to win; however, they can have an impact on right and wrong. We should all fight to make what is good, right; however, to do that, we have to win. Winning is the precondition to make what is good, right. Let us learn how to win, before the lesson becomes much more costly.
Aaron M. Harmaty is an attorney who
practices law in the State of New Jersey.
Death to Fascism.