Not long ago, I saw the great thinker of the Left, Naom Chomski, talking on a cable channel at a diner. He spoke very convincingly, albeit with 10 syllable words, about imperialist/corporate America. I listened to him on the edge of my stool. 
  Apparently I was the only one who found Chomski intriguing. Several people 'protested' his lecture and the channel was promptly changed to Sports. In fact, an ad for Nikes was playing out. Ironic, considering that the old man had accused Nike only moments before, of supporting abysmal labor conditions throughout the developing world.
  Did the people around me see the irony? No. Not one. What they saw, I'm afraid, was an intellect with an oversized head, talking Greek. Worse, the sour looking old guy appeared to be bitching about anything and all that most people happen to enjoy.
  Is this how the Left cares to reach the masses?  
  Okay, so the masses 'enjoy' whatever few choices the market permits. When this occurs in politics, we call it propaganda; and as the 'preemptive war' effort winds up against Iraq, you can be sure that the people are going to buy it. Strong men with many medals stand at the podium at the Pentagon and sell Americans on this outlandish war, all on the basis of appealing to our best interests.
  The only real left wing candidate in recent times? Ralph Nader, who attempted to shore up his presidential bids with ZIP charisma.
  Face it. The left is at a deficit in terms of showing anything appealing that people might, well, find attractive.  
  Lately, as I read the top conservative Websites, I find that more and more of these people are becoming wary of Bush. Some of them are 'incorporating' liberal views. Conservative Cato analyst, Alan Reynolds, recently wrote, "The government's fatal assumption was that stocks fell mainly because of accounting problems," rather than cooking the books. Here we have a true affront to the Bush administration, who, for the sake of image made a few high profile arrests to appear tough.
  Conservatives are seeing through the Bush charade, but who in the Left reads the Cato reports? We know we hate the Heritage Foundation, right? But their best thinkers are every day reading The Nation, and amending OUR IDEAS to their program, which bottom line, appeals to the masses: love of family, love of country, and finally, love of (gasp!) the status quo.
  The status quo sucks. But tell that to the guy on the stool beside me. He looks like an average American, what, with an American flag airbrushed across his t-shirt. To look at him, he is just another old guy sitting at the counter, sipping coffee. But Saed is an Armenian, born in Iraq.
  He tells me he had to leave his homeland, considering the persecution of Armenians in Iraq, "And so I lived from one country to another, where no one would take me for who I am, not until I came to America."
  Saed succeeded in the US. He bought property and ran a number of successful convenient stores. He does not like Saddam Hussein, and is not unaware of the thousands of Kurds whom Saddam gassed to death in the streets.  
  "You a liberal?" he asked. "You must be if you don't want to see that butcher contained. And for me? While you fight the US government, I am grateful for the security I have living in this country, and the freedom I have to be who I am. But you liberals? You make a hate fest of all of it, and who will listen to you when you are right?"
  I smirked. "When we are right, or do you mean - on the right?"
  Saed laughed. And he handed me a feature from today's paper, of Bush on his ranch wearing a cowboy hat, wrist bleeding, carrying cedar logs. "You know how a picture is said to be worth a thousand words?" he asked.
  I nodded.  
  "You liberals should get a load of this," he said. "Here is the president who alone defies bans on greenhouse gasses, who is paid by the factories to lower pollution standards (how he won his office!). But all he need do here is say how he has 'liberated' his oaks from the strangling cedars to allow them water, and he is a great conservationist.
  "But you tell me, what about you liberals? You are defeatists, too full of hatemongering to show the little people even a little of the strength conveyed by the president in this picture."
  And I realized: He has a point. When I sought to gain big time support for InterNation in order to compete with the likes of the mainstream media, my liberal friends sent messages of PROTEST!!! What, they wondered, Did I want money? A virtual hug? "Forget it, man, we're radicals over here," one guy said.
  Another left-winger snipped, "Free information hogs!"
  I was accused of "entrepreneur activism." -Hummm do you see a financial opportunity? (My reply: If I wanted your fucking money so much I wouldn't risk assailing the time worn platitudes of my fellow leftwingers!)
  I am strong, and resolute, trying to find stratagems to beat the big guys at their own game, but guess what? It appears that only Republicans are allowed this sense of exhilaration these days! The attitude of my liberal minded friends? Expect nothing less than DEFEAT! They are generally angry, and whatever hostility that comes their way from others, the more they feel PERSECUTED. Enemies of the state! And when the FBI doesn't come knocking? They're a little miffed.
  The left is in dire straits not because our positions are wrong, but because we do not engender images of strength, or success. We come across as a reactive, intellectual elite. In a nutshell? The left is like Naom Chomski, really brilliant, yes, but otherwise, totally out of touch with ordinary people.

Tod, You might want to check out the CPUSA. Very down to earth folks, for the most part, who're typically well connected to average working people. Square business! Cord

Yes, I've placed the Communist Party USA website on my portal InterNation, just beneath the Heritage Foundation (I'm sure they'd love ta see that). Now whether the Communist Party has such a strong, human face I've yet to find out....but I appreciate the link & of course, although I am not a Marxist in my Leftist leanings - I will be sure ta keep up with the headlines of the CPUSA. Thanks!

CPUSA?!?! You must be joking, right? These cult zombies have ZERO clout among the US working class just like the ISO. The socialist sects in this country are dominated by naive students not workers. Besides, in case you don't read the papers, communist parties were discreditied in the 1990s if not before. They have nothing to offer us but a new set of bosses.

But, don't listen to me. Go to a blue collar worksite and see how much support there is for the CPUSA, ISO, SWP, Maoists or any of these kooks.

My jaw dropped off reading how supposedly wonderful the CPUSA is! Worker Bee took the words right out of my mouth.

As for the notion of "liberals" in the above article, i kept asking myself, "why is he talking about the 'left' and 'liberals' and including chomsky in all this?" first, Chomsky is an anarchist and generally rejects the false dichotomy of left and right. Second, Chomsky is hugely popular among working people, but not the liberal intelligencia, that is true. It is not a coincidence that his recent book out on Seven Stories Press is a bestseller (selling over 100,000 copies). Just because your friends would rather watch sports than chomsky doesn't mean shit. I would rather watch sports than chomsky sometimes, but when people have a moment to listen to him, they generally respond positively. It's always the fucking liberals who freak out on chomsky (i.e. anarchists hate liberals too ya know). If interested, and after you wasted your time with the authoritarian clap trap of the CPUSA, check out the anarchist FAQ:

http://www.infoshop.org/faq/index.html


000

000 and Worker Bee: In all due respect, you don't really know what you're talking about. The CPUSA is the oldest. largest and best known Marxist party in the country. It is well connected with the AFL-CIO and other workers organizations. Not surprising, since the CIO was founded by Communists. The Longshore port dispute on the West Coast comes out of a proud history of Communist leadership (Harry Bridges), for example. When John Sweeny came in as head of the AFL-CIO, they dropped the old McCarthyite anti-communist clauses in their constitution. Sweeny knew that he needed the open assistance of CPUSA comrades. Communists hold posts and elected offices within the Unions. Your comments show how out of touch and ignorant you are about class struggle and real politics. By the way, despite his knee-jerk anti-communism, Chomsky is respected by the Party and often cited in the Party's newspaper. With more than 90 years experience in Left activism, the CPUSA has nothing to be ashamed of. So go out and trash everyone if you want to. But don't jump to conclusions about things you know so little about. -Cord
http://www.pww.org

First of all, I am not an anarchist. I do not view the state as an absolute evil but a venue of contestation between competing class interests.

Second of all, I worked with the ILWU before moving to the East Coast. I also walked the picket line to prevent the Neptune Jade from bering unloaded. I don't know a SINGLE member of the CPUSA on the Oakland docks. Maybe it's different in L.A....

And as far as Chomsky goes, you fools are parasites who will pick and choose elements of people's politcs you agree with and ignore their critques. Chomsky is not a "knee jerk anti-communist." But he has lived long enough to see communists discredit and destroy every revolution they've ever been involved in!

Lastly, you wrote "The CPUSA is the oldest. largest and best known Marxist party in the country."

I don't doubt that but how well known is it? How many workers even know a communist party exists in the US. Or, a better question, HOW MANY CARE?

I suspect the number is small and declining as it is in every other developed nation on the planet. The only place the communists have any support is in some developing nations and even there they need to intimidate people into supporting them.

A perfect example of this is the FARC. They've been involved in the murder of union members, peasant cooperative leaders, etc. just like the paramilitaries.

But keep preaching the line of the CPUSA, it shows how out of touch you are with the US working class and the workers of the world.

"I don't know a SINGLE member of the CPUSA on the Oakland docks."

Of course not, bee. The CPUSA has maybe 2,200 members. We're not big on recruiting as such. Being in the mix is very important, though. Being able to stimulate Center-Left coalitions within Labor's ranks. Pointing out the systemic crisis, while working for immediate reforms. But at its height, after WW2, the Party was hardly more than 125,000 comrades. Yet, it's influence was enormous and lasts up to the present. You're correct that most workers don't give a damn or aren't aware of the Party. That's not entirely the Party's fault, I'm sure you'll agree. An awful lot of effort has gone into unjustly vilifying, distorting and mis-representing the CPUSA's positions and history. But the CPUSA is organizationally sound, publishes 3 regular periodicals, maintains 2 websites, has a its own printing press, audio and video assets, a dozen regional offices, international connections, and works tirelessly in the broad interests of the working class. At this time, the Party promotes every effort towards the broadest coalitions of Americans in order to beat Bush and the Republicans in November. We can talk all you want about the Soviet experience another time. The CPUSA had no influence there. But, the CPUSA plans to be around for the long haul, helping to build a multi-party, constitutional, socialist democracy right here in the USA. Those have generally been Party' tactics and strategy for 90 years. Why would you have a problem with that? -Cord