>Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 23:18:48 -0500 (CDT)
>From: Michael Eisenscher <meisenscher at igc.org>
>Subject: Re: Leftists and Movements
>
>In a message dated , meisenscher at igc.org writes:
>
><< Why has the Left in this country been so relatively small
>and ineffective? There are many reasons, among them: the
>strength of individualism and competitive ideology, racism
>and racial divisions, a winner-take-all electoral system, a
>population with a large percentage of middle-income people,
>and repression and/or cooption of union organizing efforts,
>anti-racist activism and leftists. Also significant,
>however, has been a long history of sectarianism and
>"correct-lineism."
> >>
>
>I would like to thank the brother for sharing this commentary. But the above
>list of reasons why the left is weak in this reason has a glaring
>omission.That is the role of the union leadership and its belief that there
>is no alternative to capitalism and its witchhunting and repression of the
>left within the labor movement and the working class in general. I am in
>favor of pointing out the role of sectarianism and ultra leftism in hurting
>the development of a mass left force in this country. But I am also in favor
>of pointing out the role of opportunism and the pro-capitalist ideology of
>the union leadership. After all if the union leadership had radical policies
>and mobilized its millions of members organized in around 40.000 union
>locals and reached out to the community and social movements we would be a
>long way down the road to a powerful mass movement challenging capitalism. I
>believe that those commentators who have the one sided approach of
>identifiying only the mistakes of what they see as sectarianism and
>ultra-leftism while ignoring the mistakes of the procapitalist union leaders
>are themselves not a help to the development of a mass movement.
>
>Sean O'Torain. Labors Militant Voice. Laborsmilitantvoice.com