If I won the race, and the next one, and the one after that... If I found myself wielding real power after decades of effort and self-redefinition... at some point, I'm not the underdog anymore. At some point, I'd need to treat peers as peers and friends as friends. 7/?
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At some point, my stump speeches would have to let that young, poor, no-self-worth version of me go. At some point, trying to sow that narrative would seem performative to large swathes of the electorate. At some point, I'd need to handle disagreements with allies privately. 8/?
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At some point, I'd be above manufacturing click-bait controversies to score political points, especially if it meant stabbing friends in the back. At some point, I'd need to trust in the power of my authenticity, and stop listening to campaign adviser hacks. 9/?
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I could point out specific politicians who have failed to transcend their underdog identities and stabbed friends in the back and gone performative and sown narratives they've outgrown, but I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader. 10/?
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My point is that when members of underdog groups attain power, they do their group a disservice when they fail to evolve into powerful people. At some point, you have to stop dismissing criticisms of you as sexist, racist or ableist. 11/?
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At some point, you're not the underdog anymore, and you own up to your shortcomings when they are pointed out to you, and work to overcome them. You self-reflect. You show the world how to be powerful through self-disclosure, humor and vulnerability. 12/?
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As we enter an age where equality becomes more commonplace, and women and minorities attain power, they'll have to learn to let go of the underdog identity, and wield their newfound power without trying to score extra points for how much harder it was for them to get there. 13/?
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And I'm saying this with compassion, as someone who came from poverty, with an identity which took decades to shake off. Status is a shared delusion that starts with the person aspiring to high status. Believe it, and others will too. But it is fragile. 14/?
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Sully it with a victim narrative, from a position of already-attained-power, and you'll lose half your audience. If you've put in the work, and attained lofty goals, own it, and never paint yourself as a victim again. You are now the hand lifting those below you. 15/15
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Replying to @cowtung
This was a wonderful thread. Although I’m probably not up to date with the latest political issue that inspired it, it seems to be a timeless issue that everyone wants to think of themselves as the underdog, the rebel. We want to be characters that are easy to root for.
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It reminded me of this article on Yale campus dynamics (https://palladiummag.com/2019/08/05/the-real-problem-at-yale-is-not-free-speech/ …) but in reverse—where a privileged group tries to identify with the underdog because embracing the responsibility of power is a terrifying unknown in this day and age.
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