If the review is a fair representation of Bhaskar’s Sunkara’s new book, “The Socialist Manifesto,” I like the questions that Sunkara is exploring and the direction that he is suggesting. I’m impressed that he has the temerity to mention, according to the reviewer, the “counterrevolutionary” Kautsky in a favorable light.

Against the background of a left in the U.S. that hasn’t come close to “storming heaven” on the one hand and the experience of existing socialism in the 20th century – much of it went belly up – on the other, you would think that new thinking about socialism – what it looks like, who its protagonists are, and how to get there, not to mention the causes of its crisis and collapse in the first place (simply blaming “imperialism” is insufficient to say the least) – would be in high demand. But that isn’t the case. Old ideas, even when evidence isn’t on their side, resist burial, thanks to their zealous defenders of the faith who are captives of what my old friend Fred Gaboury called, the “politics of assertion,” while new ideas that challenge old understandings are quick to meet resistance by the same crowd.

I have said before that if anyone worries too much about defending yourself from criticism from the defenders of the faith on the left, they will probably serve up nothing but old bromides and formulas, dressed in a slightly different clothing and tone deaf to actual experience. The pressure to be “right” on the left militates against thinking that goes against the grain, as it applauds at the same time the repetition of received wisdom. And who needs that? Anyway, I look forward to reading Sunkara’s new book.

What is missing in Vanden Heuvel’s analysis is the imperative of popular action at the local and national level. Vocal support outside the halls of Congress, history tells us, complements the Biden-Democratic legislative initiatives and bills inside the House and Senate. Biden, Bernie, and Pelosi need the leverage of millions on the street to rein in their own caucus, defeat GOP opposition, and pass legislation that is game changing – a break from neoliberal economics and Trumpian politics. Nothing is more important at this moment. All eyes and energies – people and social movements – should be trained on this Congressional battle.

I can’t quite understand why the coalition of organizations and people that elected Biden are not doing more to acquaint and win the support of the American people for Biden’s domestic agenda in general and the American Jobs Plan in particular. One would think that progressives and the left would be all over this, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I have some thoughts as to why, but I will leave that for some other post. What do you think?

It’s a curious thing that, while Republicans see the American Jobs Plan as “transformational,” deserving of sustained opposition and a crushing and dispiriting defeat, not all in the coalition that elected Biden seem to appreciate the scale and scope of this bill and the imperative of its passage. When the Republicans say it is “transformational,” for once they speak the truth. We should understand the bill that way too, and thus deserving of our practical attention and action too.

Or, to put it differently, if you are itching to fight neoliberalism, join the effort to pass this bill.

Shouldn’t write off legal remedies to end voter suppression, but the main site of struggle is legislative. But it can’t be left to Congress or state legislatures to decide the fate of voting rights legislation. Democratic minded people have to intervene and leave their stamp on this struggle that has such a high gravitational pull. End of the summer actions in Washington or cities and towns around the country would seem imperative. Delay is the ally of our enemy on the extreme right.

Obviously that decision isn’t mine to make. It will be decided elsewhere – mainly at the leadership levels of the diverse organizations that were instrumental in electing Biden-Harris and Congressional Democrats last year.