On Sat, 12 Nov 1994 03:04:40 -0800 DJ said:
>Peter Dornan says that the Christian Right is solid on a number of issues
>while the movements are disparate on many issues. Having read much of the
>literature put out by the Christian Right - and I am not quite sure who
>is represented here except most people suggest it is Jerry Falwell and
>Pat Robertson and possibly James Dobson - I know they feel they must
>organize to fight against the movements - and since they did not come to
>fruition until after the movements had formed, I wonder if that is not
>the case. Should the left solidify on issues, I would bet that the
>Christian Right will just organize more. What I am saying here is that in
>the absence of what the Christian Right sees as a threat, they would not
>have felt the need to organize, preferring to stay out of politics. Now
>that they are organizing, the movements will see the need to organize
>further (gays, abortionists, etc.) and that will just up the divisiveness
>in society. However, once the ball is rolling like it is, it is almost
>impossible to stop.
Is this saying that for every action by the left, there will be an
equal and opposite reaction from the right? I beg to differ.
I would say that left and right are not complementary bands of
"extremists" who disrupt Doug's desired social stability and
cause the hated "divisiveness" (a.k.a. serious discussion about
important issues rather than glorying in bipartisan unity and
differing over politicians' personalities).
To a large extent, the left and right are subsitutes:
One reason why people turn to the right (and here I am not talking
about the rich or the Salamander Gingriches of the world but
about the working classes and the other victims of our system)
is that the left doesn't offer a serious alternative that
speaks to their needs and desires. Back in the 1960s and
early 1970s, when the left was really strong it shifted
US politics leftward. True, Nixon and his creeps unleashed
state power to sabotage and repress the left. But his
administration also brought about the Occupational Safety
& Health Act.
Capitalism is currently living up to old Karlos' predictions
of driving peoples' living standards down and work loads
up (etc.) In the absence of a left that attacks the
system in a meaningful way, people turn to the rif right.
Rather than blame the system, they blame their neighbors,
the scapegoats.
Not only is the rise of the fundamentalist right a symptom
of the failure of the left, it's also a symptom of the
failure of the middle: the Clintonian "new Democrats"
(technocratic conservatives). The 1994 election was
a repudiation of them much more than of the weak and
divided left. Some "left-wing" silliness may have
helped (as when any fragmented movement goes overboard)
but the Clintonians have a much a larger impact on
politics than does the left (at least in 1994).
Awhile back, if I remember correctly, some folks
argued that Doug McReady should be kicked off the pen-l
list. I argued that we should just stop replying to
his messages and that he would go away. Ooops.
in pen-l solidarity,
Jim Devine
[EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Econ. Dept., Loyola Marymount Univ., Los Angeles, CA 90045-2699 USA
310/338-2948 (daytime, during workweek); FAX: 310/338-1950
