I think in some ways this is a reversal of course from some of your previous writing. This implies or at least seems to imply that party will create culture. I think that you and I have had more valuable conversations when we assume the reverse. A Solidarity movement (and I'm going to keep insisting on that in opposition to Christian Democracy) needs to be bigger and more widespread than a political party can possibly be. A whole life and conscience based culture has to come first for a political dream to even make sense. If we work to make that a cultural reality then whatever political reality that flows from it will be worth the effort. Polarization did not appear from nowhere and cannot be simply voted away. Common good and libertarian solutions must be viable before a multiparty America can begin to take shape. The real work comes well before any elections. We need to build that foundation in people's lives in order to change how they vote.
I don't actually think the two options you outlined are mutually exclusive...culture shapes the course of politics (which is why earlier posts talked about the need for Solidarity to become a cultural movement), but it is also true that politics shapes culture. Think about how Roe v Wade or Obergefell v Hodges both flowed out of earlier cultural movements and yet also reshaped the culture of our nation in profound ways after they were enacted. The interchange between culture and politics is more like a circular flow than a purely top-down or a bottom-up process, and it's important to see how those two processes relate in order to get a complete picture of what's wrong with our society and how to make things better.
I think in some ways this is a reversal of course from some of your previous writing. This implies or at least seems to imply that party will create culture. I think that you and I have had more valuable conversations when we assume the reverse. A Solidarity movement (and I'm going to keep insisting on that in opposition to Christian Democracy) needs to be bigger and more widespread than a political party can possibly be. A whole life and conscience based culture has to come first for a political dream to even make sense. If we work to make that a cultural reality then whatever political reality that flows from it will be worth the effort. Polarization did not appear from nowhere and cannot be simply voted away. Common good and libertarian solutions must be viable before a multiparty America can begin to take shape. The real work comes well before any elections. We need to build that foundation in people's lives in order to change how they vote.
I don't actually think the two options you outlined are mutually exclusive...culture shapes the course of politics (which is why earlier posts talked about the need for Solidarity to become a cultural movement), but it is also true that politics shapes culture. Think about how Roe v Wade or Obergefell v Hodges both flowed out of earlier cultural movements and yet also reshaped the culture of our nation in profound ways after they were enacted. The interchange between culture and politics is more like a circular flow than a purely top-down or a bottom-up process, and it's important to see how those two processes relate in order to get a complete picture of what's wrong with our society and how to make things better.