Transformative movements and a mature left

In the 20th century, two movements were transformative in their impact. One uprooted an unregulated, crisis-ridden capitalism in the 1930s, while the other overturned a deeply racist system, sanctioned by law, custom, and violence in the 1960s.

Neither one of these movements, however, boycotted or stood apart from the electoral and legislative process. They engaged in a very practical way in “bourgeois politics” as well as embraced expansive concepts of struggle. Their aim wasn’t to take over, but to draw together diverse social and political constituencies around a common objective. But that didn’t weaken their cause. In fact, it was an essential part of the explanation for their success. A mature left will learn from these experiences.

A dogmatic cast of mind

The struggle against Trump and the right is a form of the class struggle. In fact, it’s the main form of the class (and democratic) struggle at this moment. Only someone with a dogmatic cast of mind would think otherwise. Politics, including class politics, never come in pure form.

Counterproductive and sterile

When millions recognize that the existential challenge of this moment is to defend democracy, the debate over whether Trump represents a right wing, white nationalist authoritarian danger or a fascist danger can easily turn counterproductive and sterile. The accent, it seems to me, should be on doing everything we can — big and small — to defeat Trump and his motley coalition in next year’s elections.

Symbolic representation

I don’t think that many of Trump’s supporters care if he tells the truth or not. Their support for him turns on what he represents symbolically, not on what he says. Neither though is pretty,

Re-reading the Communist Manifesto

I was re-reading the Communist Manifesto and I couldn’t help but think that in its visionary sweep it swept away too much in its path that might impede nascent capitalism’s march and socialism’s inevitability. Too much melts into air, the complexities of economic, social, and political life are sidelined, and the working class supposedly by the force of its inner logic of development scales the political heights of capitalism in short order and then digs capitalism’s grave. This deterministic vision, not surprisingly, found its way into the communist movement.in the 20th century. It didn’t take up all the space, but its presence was (and still is) undeniable.