The Intercept mourns 'meltdowns' from within left-wing groups halting progress at a 'critical moment'

On Monday, The Intercept published an in-depth analysis on how "Meltdowns Have Brought Progressive Advocacy Groups to a Standstill at a Critical Moment in World History."

The Intercept’s D.C. Bureau Chief Ryan Grim described what he saw as a habit in left-wing advocacy groups such as Time's Up of "using a moment of public awakening to smuggle through standard grievances cloaked in the language of social justice."

"In fact, it’s hard to find a Washington-based progressive organization that hasn’t been in tumult, or isn’t currently in tumult," Grim noted.

While noting dozens of liberal political groups have sprung up since the Trump administration, he wrote how most of them have since been buried in personal internal squabbles.

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He offered story after story of progressive groups that ate their own in the wake of the death of George Floyd and the racial reckoning. Charges of systemic racism turned inward and organizations were shaken up. 

At first, 2021 brought Democrats new hope, but by the summer, most of the foundation-backed organizations that make up the backbone of the party’s ideological infrastructure were still spending their time locked in virtual retreats, Slack wars, and healing sessions, grappling with tensions over hierarchy, patriarchy, race, gender, and power," Grim wrote. 

"So much energy has been devoted to the internal strife and internal bullshit that it’s had a real impact on the ability for groups to deliver," said one organization leader who departed his position that Grim quoted. "It’s been huge, particularly over the last year and a half or so, the ability for groups to focus on their mission, whether it’s reproductive justice, or jobs, or fighting climate change."

Grim also remarked how this behavior embodies the "caricature" of the left that was popularized by right-wing critics.

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"This is, of course, a caricature of the left: that socialists and communists spend more time in meetings and fighting with each other than changing the world. But in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidential election, and then Joe Biden’s, it has become nearly all-consuming for some organizations, spreading beyond subcultures of the left and into major liberal institutions," Grim wrote.

Despite expressing disappointment at these meltdowns, Grim added that some work confrontations were "long overdue" and may help better the organizations in the long term.

"The reckoning was in many ways long overdue, forcing organizations to deal with persistent problems of inclusion, equity, and poor management," he wrote. 

"In the long term, the organizations may become better versions of themselves while finally living the values they’ve long fought for. In the short term, the battles between staff and organizational leadership have effectively sidelined major progressive institutions at a critical moment in U.S. and world history."

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Grim concluded, "Winning power requires working in coalition with people who, by definition, do not agree with you on everything; otherwise they’d be part of your organization and not a separate organization working with you in coalition. Winning power requires unity in the face of a greater opposition, which runs counter to a desire to live a just life in each moment."

The Intercept was previously criticized by its former founder Glenn Greenwald in May 2021 after the site shared a lengthy video attacking conservative reporters who covered riots in U.S. cities.