If It Wasn’t For Bad Faith They’d Have No Faith At All The article defines ‘bad faith’ as the use of deceptive arguments and pretexts to achieve political goals, particularly by the American right wing, citing examples like restrictions on reproductive care and manufactured concerns about workplace discrimination. It emphasizes how this tactic is employed to undermine democracy and advance authoritarian views. The author also touches upon the significance of social media platforms, the dangers of popularism for the Democratic party, and the role of public perception of issues like inflation.

• Bad faith politics involves using disingenuous arguments to advance anti-democratic views, such as Republicans using clinic safety as a pretext to restrict abortion access.
• The American right wing employs bad faith in various issues, including crafting AI based on their worldview and falsely claiming reverse racism in education and employment.
• The author highlights the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine equal opportunity programs by encouraging complaints from white men against diversity initiatives.
• The article warns the Democratic Party against ‘popularism,’ a strategy of focusing solely on kitchen table issues, which cedes other important topics to the far right.
• Voters are significantly concerned about inflation, a fact that politicians, including Democrats, must acknowledge and address.
• The author advocates for moving away from platforms like X (formerly Twitter) to decentralized alternatives like Bluesky, especially for sports content, to counter the spread of misinformation and pro-authoritarian views.
• The piece discusses the importance of consistent, small-scale efforts (‘running the football’) in the fight against authoritarianism, referencing actions in Minnesota.
• Actions by political regimes are increasingly driven by the need to generate ‘content’ for social media, influencing public perception and discourse.
• Ignorance is presented as a virtue in modern American culture, leading to a disregard for expertise and the rise of a post-truth society.