Primary Everyone
Tyler Austen Harper on taking smart risks in American politics.
In the Enneagram personality framework, there is an important (and arguably underrated, especially in the Trump Era) personality type: The Loyal Skeptic. Every team needs someone who believes deeply in your cause and will also tell you when your ideas are s***.
On our team, we see Environmental Studies professor and Atlantic contributor Tyler Austin Harper as a loyal skeptic of the Democratic party.
Last Summer, after Joe Biden's disastrous June debate performance, we quietly exchanged Harper's posts on X.
After the election, his Atlantic article, 'Of Course Black Men Are Drifting Toward Trump', highlighted how Democrats took key segments of the electorate for granted
Like any good loyal skeptic, Harper doesn't just identify problems - he offers alternatives, pushing the Democratic party to evolve rather than simply tearing it down. We wanted to talk to him because his perspective is clear, principled, and normal. This conversation is part of our ongoing White Board series asking 'Where do we go from here?'
His ideas range from embracing popular policy positions to agreeing with Trump when he's right and supporting primary challengers to some of the biggest names in American politics.
Why?
To give voters a real choice and viable alternative to the same old same old in American politics.
We hope you find this episode as refreshing and thought-provoking as we did.
P.S. He stayed for our outside of politics segment to talk about his extreme fishing hobby
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Episode Transcript
Coming soon…
This was a great episode. It challenged me which is exactly what I need right now. I was a Hillary girl and I think I’ve always struggled to listen to voices from what I use to refer to as the Bernie wing of the party but I’ve been challenging myself to stretch my brain and to let go of some of my nostalgia for times that have since passed and this was a good talk. I especially appreciate how he was able to state purpose without blaming trans people, he got to the heart of the matter which is much more complex.
I found the discussion of academia frustrating. The things he talked about really only apply to elite universities, but he never said that. Most colleges don't have big endowments or lots of rich students, which is why recently every week or two another college announces its closing. Most community colleges don't have any endowment to speak of, and that is where most students go to school. Dipping into an endowments to, say, meet the gap of funds promised by the feds that the schools are not receiving, is risky for most places.