{"article":{"id":18322,"heading":"Leftwing Defeatism","author":"Tod","created":"2002-08-13 22:39:50","modified":"2013-11-10 23:45:29","last_modified":"Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:45:29","article":"
Not long ago, I saw the great thinker of \r\n\r\nthe Left, Naom Chomski, talking on a cable channel at a \r\n\r\ndiner. He spoke very convincingly, albeit with 10 syllable \r\n\r\nwords, about imperialist\/corporate America. I listened to \r\n\r\nhim on the edge of my stool.
Apparently I \r\n\r\nwas the only one who found Chomski intriguing. Several \r\n\r\npeople 'protested' his lecture and the channel was promptly \r\n\r\nchanged to Sports. In fact, an ad for Nikes was playing \r\n\r\nout. Ironic, considering that the old man had accused Nike \r\n\r\nonly moments before, of supporting abysmal labor conditions \r\n\r\nthroughout the developing world.
Did the \r\n\r\npeople around me see the irony? No. Not one. What they \r\n\r\nsaw, I'm afraid, was an intellect with an oversized head, \r\n\r\ntalking Greek. Worse, the sour looking old guy appeared to \r\n\r\nbe bitching about anything and all that most people happen \r\n\r\nto enjoy.
Is this how the Left cares to reach \r\n\r\nthe masses?
Okay, so the masses 'enjoy' \r\n\r\nwhatever few choices the market permits. When this occurs \r\n\r\nin politics, we call it propaganda; and as the 'preemptive \r\n\r\nwar' effort winds up against Iraq, you can be sure that the \r\n\r\npeople are going to buy it. Strong men with many medals \r\n\r\nstand at the podium at the Pentagon and sell Americans on \r\n\r\nthis outlandish war, all on the basis of appealing to our \r\n\r\nbest interests.
The only real left wing \r\n\r\ncandidate in recent times? Ralph Nader, who attempted to \r\n\r\nshore up his presidential bids with ZIP \r\n\r\ncharisma.
Face it. The left is at a deficit \r\n\r\nin terms of showing anything appealing that people might, \r\n\r\nwell, find attractive.
Lately, as I read \r\n\r\nthe top conservative Websites, I find that more and more of \r\n\r\nthese people are becoming wary of Bush. Some of them are \r\n\r\n'incorporating' liberal views. Conservative Cato analyst, \r\n\r\nAlan Reynolds, recently wrote, \"The government's fatal \r\n\r\nassumption was that stocks fell mainly because of accounting \r\n\r\nproblems,\" rather than cooking the books. Here we have a \r\n\r\ntrue affront to the Bush administration, who, for the sake \r\n\r\nof image made a few high profile arrests to appear \r\n\r\ntough.
Conservatives are seeing through the \r\n\r\nBush charade, but who in the Left reads the Cato reports? \r\n\r\nWe know we hate the Heritage Foundation, right? But their \r\n\r\nbest thinkers are every day reading The Nation, and amending \r\n\r\nOUR IDEAS to their program, which bottom line, appeals to \r\n\r\nthe masses: love of family, love of country, and finally, \r\n\r\nlove of (gasp!) the status quo.
The status \r\n\r\nquo sucks. But tell that to the guy on the stool beside me. \r\n\r\n He looks like an average American, what, with an American \r\n\r\nflag airbrushed across his t-shirt. To look at him, he is \r\n\r\njust another old guy sitting at the counter, sipping coffee. \r\n\r\n But Saed is an Armenian, born in Iraq.
He \r\n\r\ntells me he had to leave his homeland, considering the \r\n\r\npersecution of Armenians in Iraq, \"And so I lived from one \r\n\r\ncountry to another, where no one would take me for who I am, \r\n\r\nnot until I came to America.\"
Saed succeeded \r\n\r\nin the US. He bought property and ran a number of \r\n\r\nsuccessful convenient stores. He does not like Saddam \r\n\r\nHussein, and is not unaware of the thousands of Kurds whom \r\n\r\nSaddam gassed to death in the streets.
\"You \r\n\r\na liberal?\" he asked. \"You must be if you don't want to see \r\n\r\nthat butcher contained. And for me? While you fight the US \r\n\r\ngovernment, I am grateful for the security I have living in \r\n\r\nthis country, and the freedom I have to be who I am. But \r\n\r\nyou liberals? You make a hate fest of all of it, and who \r\n\r\nwill listen to you when you are right?\"
I \r\n\r\nsmirked. \"When we are right, or do you mean - on the \r\n\r\nright?\"
Saed laughed. And he handed me a \r\n\r\nfeature from today's paper, of Bush on his ranch wearing a \r\n\r\ncowboy hat, wrist bleeding, carrying cedar logs. \"You know \r\n\r\nhow a picture is said to be worth a thousand words?\" he \r\n\r\nasked.
I nodded.
\"You \r\n\r\nliberals should get a load of this,\" he said. \"Here is the \r\n\r\npresident who alone defies bans on greenhouse gasses, who is \r\n\r\npaid by the factories to lower pollution standards (how he \r\n\r\nwon his office!). But all he need do here is say how he has \r\n\r\n'liberated' his oaks from the strangling cedars to allow \r\n\r\nthem water, and he is a great \r\n\r\nconservationist.
\"But you tell me, what about \r\n\r\nyou liberals? You are defeatists, too full of hatemongering \r\n\r\nto show the little people even a little of the strength \r\n\r\nconveyed by the president in this \r\n\r\npicture.\"
And I realized: He has a point. \r\n\r\nWhen I sought to gain big time support for InterNation in \r\n\r\norder to compete with the likes of the mainstream media, my \r\n\r\nliberal friends sent messages of PROTEST!!! What, they \r\n\r\nwondered, Did I want money? A virtual hug? \"Forget it, \r\n\r\nman, we're radicals over here,\" one guy said. \r\n\r\n
Another left-winger snipped, \"Free \r\n\r\ninformation hogs!\"
I was accused of \r\n\r\n\"entrepreneur activism.\" -Hummm do you see a financial \r\n\r\nopportunity? (My reply: If I wanted your fucking money so \r\n\r\nmuch I wouldn't risk assailing the time worn platitudes of \r\n\r\nmy fellow leftwingers!)
I am strong, and \r\n\r\nresolute, trying to find stratagems to beat the big guys at \r\n\r\ntheir own game, but guess what? It appears that only \r\n\r\nRepublicans are allowed this sense of exhilaration these \r\n\r\ndays! The attitude of my liberal minded friends? Expect \r\n\r\nnothing less than DEFEAT! They are generally angry, and \r\n\r\nwhatever hostility that comes their way from others, the \r\n\r\nmore they feel PERSECUTED. Enemies of the state! And when \r\n\r\nthe FBI doesn't come knocking? They're a little miffed. \r\n\r\n
The left is in dire straits not because our \r\n\r\npositions are wrong, but because we do not engender images \r\n\r\nof strength, or success. We come across as a reactive, \r\n\r\nintellectual elite. In a nutshell? The left is like Naom \r\n\r\nChomski, really brilliant, yes, but otherwise, totally out \r\n\r\nof touch with ordinary people.\r\n\n","contact":"admin@inter-nation.org","link":"www.inter-nation.org","address":"InterNation, 118 E. Tarpon Ave. , Suite 200, Tarpon Springs, FL 34689 USA","phone":"727-417-1407","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":" 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.","numcomment":7,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2002\/08\/18322.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":18325,"heading":"Try CPUSA","article":"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","author":"cord macguire","parent_id":18322,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-08-13 23:58:32","modified":"2002-08-13 23:58:32","fileurl":""},{"id":18327,"heading":"Thanks Cord","article":"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!","author":"Tod","parent_id":18322,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-08-14 01:25:10","modified":"2002-08-14 01:25:10","fileurl":""},{"id":18332,"heading":"Are you kidding?","article":"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.\r\n\r\nBut, 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. ","author":"worker bee","parent_id":18322,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-08-14 13:56:44","modified":"2002-08-14 13:56:44","fileurl":""},{"id":18333,"heading":"Thanks Worker Bee","article":"My jaw dropped off reading how supposedly wonderful the CPUSA is! Worker Bee took the words right out of my mouth.\r\n\r\nAs 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:\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.infoshop.org\/faq\/index.html\r\n\r\n\r\n000","author":"000","parent_id":18322,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-08-14 14:54:49","modified":"2002-08-14 14:54:49","fileurl":""},{"id":18334,"heading":"Misinformed anarchists","article":"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\r\nhttp:\/\/www.pww.org","author":"cord","parent_id":18322,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-08-14 15:29:04","modified":"2002-08-14 15:29:04","fileurl":""},{"id":18337,"heading":"Nice try Cord","article":"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. \r\n\r\nSecond 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....\r\n\r\nAnd 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! \r\n\r\nLastly, you wrote "The CPUSA is the oldest. largest and best known Marxist party in the country."\r\n\r\nI 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?\r\n\r\nI 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.\r\n\r\nA 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. \r\n\r\nBut 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.","author":"worker bee","parent_id":18322,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-08-14 20:22:03","modified":"2002-08-14 20:22:03","fileurl":""},{"id":18340,"heading":"another try","article":""I don't know a SINGLE member of the CPUSA on the Oakland docks."\r\n\r\nOf 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","author":"cord","parent_id":18322,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2002-08-14 22:14:26","modified":"2002-08-14 22:14:26","fileurl":""}]}