"But it is now more than six years since the onset of the Great Recession. Despite substantial interest in anti-capitalist ideas among millennials the socialist left in the U.S. is hardly larger than it was in the 1990s and the 2000s. Not even the embryo of a large-scale alternative has begun to cohere. Something is not working."
> Louis Proyect <[email protected]> wrote: > “The most profound defeat of the past three decades has been the retreat > of the socialist left and the consequent lowering of both social and > political expectations — both in what we hope for and what we believe we > can collectively achieve. The idea of socialism has been sidelined as > pie-in-the-sky. But what is really utopian is the promise that a better > life within capitalism is around the corner. The radical must > increasingly declare itself the practical.” (Sam Gindin) > > “That’s how the enemy wants us. He wants us small, speaking a language > no one understands, in a minority, hiding behind our traditional > symbols. He is delighted with that, because he knows that as long as we > are like that, we are not dangerous.” (Pablo Iglesias) > > The revolutionary socialist left faces a crisis of imagination. > > Most of us cannot really imagine an organized mass alternative within > present-day capitalism (let alone a full-fledged post-capitalist > polity). This is not meant as an insult. This difficulty is not borne of > individual or political failure. It is a product of large social forces > beyond any single socialist, tendency or organization. We organize > protests and issue analyses. We unpack the ABCs of Marxism (as we see > it) in study groups with talented millennial workers and students. We > occupy town squares and block highways. Some of us have gone on strike > or helped run independent political campaigns. Comrades (from Socialist > Alternative, Solidarity, Kasama, Jacobin, International Socialist > Organization, Workers International League, Socialist Party, Red Party, > Philly Socialists, Socialist Action, among many others) do impressive > (as well as the necessary if mundane) things that keep the socialist > tradition alive. On a (usually) local level socialists (can) leaven the > rise of struggle. > > full: http://www.thenorthstar.info/?p=12353 _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
