>I find the thumb-sucking pessimism of so many left activists really bizarre.
And ridiculous.
It is only the dynamics of these e-mail lists that can give a temporary advantage to dogmatic sectarian positions which strike a pose in order to impress, and temporarily throw progressive people onto the defensive. It is part of a mind set that says the only opportunism is right opportunism. A distortion of marxism if ever there was one.
There is left opportunism as well, which ends up being right in essence. All this talk of not being able to do anything against US hegemonism, and it being a sign of impurity even to consider so, of course plays into the hands of US hegemonism. Far more valuable for imperialism to have pessimists littering the ranks of the would be revolutionaries.
But whenever one points out progress in some campaign or another, there are half a dozen revolutionary cynics setting up an e-mail gauntlet to make you prove that you do not support capitalism.
While points need to be reasoned out, we should not be shaken by the left opportunist tendency to devalue, boycott, ridicule, censor, and expel. Fundamentally it is their position which is ridiculous as any sort of coherent marxist revolutionary long term strategy.
In truth both left opportunism and right opportunism fundamentally show lack of faith in the masses. That is what they have in common.
Chris Burford
London